Two people were killed when two firefighting helicopters collided while battling a wildfire northwest of Athens, according to Israeli media reports citing Greek authorities. The figure was updated from an initial report of a single fatality.
The death toll from the collision of two firefighting helicopters northwest of Athens has been updated to two fatalities, as The Zioneer reported at 18:54 Jerusalem. This revises the earlier figure of one pilot killed, which itself emerged from initial reports of the collision and a search operation.
In the initial reports published at 16:35 Jerusalem, the desk noted that two firefighting helicopters had collided mid-air near Psatha while battling wildfires, with search and rescue underway. Subsequent updates within the same timeframe confirmed one pilot killed and the crew of the second helicopter rescued. The casualty figure remained at one until the 18:54 update.
Greece has been battling multiple summer wildfires, with firefighting aircraft from several countries operating in the region. The collision occurred near the town of Vilia, about 50 km from Athens, as The Zioneer reported earlier.
The cause of the collision remains under investigation. The identities of the casualties have not been released.
9 developments
Source and signal
- Open-source intake