Two people were seriously injured and two others were rescued after their helicopter crashed into the sea on Wednesday while taking part in a forest firefighting operation on the Greek island of Samos, according to a new report from firefighters.
“All crew members were seen, two of them safe and the other two unconscious,” a statement from the fire department said Wednesday night.
2 serious injuries, 2 survivors
The Romanian pilot of the water bomber helicopter was the first the Coast Guard found uninjured shortly after the accident on Wednesday afternoon. Authorities then located two other unconscious crew members, a Romanian and a Moldovan, in the water, whose condition is described as “critical,” according to authorities.
“They have been hospitalized and resuscitation efforts are underway,” an official with the Coast Guard press office said.
The fourth crew member, a Greek, initially missing, was eventually found safe and sound near a beach on the Aegean island of Samos, the coast guard said.
Accident occurred during seawater replenishment
According to the first information collected by public television Ert, the accident occurred while the helicopter was refueling with seawater to fight a forest fire in Samos”, which had started on the island around 2:00 p.m.
Three helicopters and five water pumps in total, supported by about fifty firefighters, began fighting the flames on Wednesday afternoon.
But once night fell, only firefighters were able to stay on the scene to try to contain the fire, with planes and helicopters only able to operate during the day.
Strong winds of more than 7 on the Beaufort scale (which has thirteen degrees) blew in the region while the temperature reached almost 30 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
violent fires
Greece is prey almost every summer to often violent forest fires.
To reinforce its means after the devastating fires last summer that killed three people and devastated 130,000 hectares, the Greek Government asked, within the framework of the European Civil Protection Mechanism (MEPC), its European partners the preventive deployment of this state firefighters from various member states states
Thus, since July 1, 250 Romanian, French, German, Bulgarian, Finnish and Norwegian firefighters have begun to deploy successively throughout the country.
Dozens of small and medium-sized forest fires have broken out in recent weeks in Greece, fueled by strong winds and temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, without causing any casualties.
Source: BFM TV
