Forest fire in Greek holiday paradise: Helicopter supported during extinguishing work in Samos
Created: 07/13/2022Updated: 07/13/2022 10:19 p.m
By: Anna Lorenz
A forest fire broke out in the west of the Greek island of Samos, which is popular with tourists, on Wednesday, July 13, 2022.
During the firefighting operation, a helicopter crashed.
Samos – A forest fire has been raging on the Greek island of Samos since noon on July 13, 2022.
According to the Samos Voice
portal, 14 fire-fighting trains, three fire-fighting aircraft and two fire-fighting helicopters tried
to bring the flames under control, but so far without resounding success.
The source of the fire is near the town of Paleochori in the westernmost part of the popular holiday island in the Aegean.
Forest fire on Samos: fire-fighting helicopter is based – the cause is now known
In the course of efforts to stop the forest fire, a fire-fighting helicopter was reported to have crashed during the day.
The helicopter crashed into the sea for initially unknown reasons.
The Romanian pilot, who was taken to the hospital in critical condition with serious injuries, according to Greek media, has now been found.
The Greek coast guard was only able to rescue two other crew members dead, as the state broadcaster ERT reported in the evening.
The fourth crew member is still being sought.
As it turned out, the rescue workers, presumably consisting of a Romanian, two Moldovans and a Greek translator, wanted to take water from the sea when their helicopter crashed from a low altitude.
Forest fire not only on Samos: fire brigade announces warning level for large parts of Greece
The flames and huge clouds of smoke on Samos could be seen from afar;
meanwhile, two towns in the area of the fire have already been evacuated as a precaution.
However, the heat and the associated drought in Europe are also affecting the rest of Greece;
on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, 35 forest fires were registered across the country within 24 hours.
A "very high risk of forest fire" was issued by the fire brigade for Thursday, July 14, 2022, the second highest warning level.
Large parts of the eastern Aegean are affected, as well as the Attica region around Athens and the islands of Euboea and Crete.
(askl)