The Greek authorities announced that an emergency plane that was contributing to extinguishing the forest fires raging on one of the Greek islands had crashed, killing its crew.
The plane crashed in the south of the island of Evia near the capital, Athens, which was participating with at least three other planes and hundreds of firefighters in fighting fires on the island, according to a statement by the Greek Ministry of Defense.
The Ministry said, “The two pilots who were on board a plane that crashed during a firefighting operation over the Greek island of Evia were killed in the accident.”
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned, in a press statement on Tuesday, of difficult days ahead in light of the fires destroying homes and the authorities having to evacuate thousands of tourists from the island of Rhodes.
“The coming days will be difficult, but things may improve after Thursday,” Mitsotakis said.
He added, “We are all on alert… In the face of what the entire planet is exposed to, especially the Mediterranean, which is a hot spot for climate change, there is no magic defense mechanism, and if it existed, we would implement it.”
Greece has been witnessing a wave of heat and massive fires for more than ten days, while ambulance teams conducted “the largest evacuation operation that Greece has ever witnessed” on the tourist island of Rhodes, which is ravaged by a large fire.
Rhodes, one of the largest islands in Greece, is one of the country’s best summer destinations and attracts around 1.5 million tourists in the summer months.
About 20,000 people were forced to leave their homes and hotels in Rhodes over the weekend as the fire spread to coastal resorts in the southeast of the island, charring land, killing animals and damaging buildings.
The civil protection authorities warned of the danger of forest fires spreading and raging in other regions of Greece, amid expectations that temperatures would reach 45 degrees Celsius. / End
Source: National Iraqi News Agency