Collision of helicopters leaves 2 dead in Greece

AGIOS KONSTANTINOS — Five water-dropping planes and another five helicopters took off at first light on Monday to help hundreds of firefighters battling a major wildfire west of Athens, Greece, a day after a midair collision between two firefighting helicopters killed two crew members.

The fire service said the two helicopters collided in the area of Psatha in the Attica region. A Greek and a Danish national on a helicopter died, while the crew on the other, one person from Greece and another from Britain, survived.

Foreign firefighting and helicopter crews are often deployed in Greece to help tackle wildfires during the country's hot, dry summers.

Investigations have started into what caused the collision, it added.

Europe has been ravaged by wildfires this summer after a period of record-breaking heat waves and little rain — conditions that scientists say have been exacerbated by climate change.

Destructive blazes in France and Spain showed some signs of easing over the weekend, but several wildfires have broken out in Greece after a period of relative calm there.

A wildfire in Greece across the weekend has destroyed more than 100 homes northwest of Athens, while people fled another blaze on the tourist island of Kefalonia.

The blaze raged through pine forests and scrubland through the weekend, whipped by gale force winds that often prevented water-dropping planes from operating.

Probing cause

Investigations suggested the fire that started in the Greek region of Boeotia before spreading to Attica was caused by sparks from conductors on a private network transmitting electricity generated by wind turbines linked to the main power grid, the eKathimerini website reported.

Two Greek nationals were arrested on suspicion of negligence, while another suspect remains at large, the report said.

Gale-force winds that had fueled a fire around Porto Germeno on the Gulf of Corinth 60 kilometers northwest of Athens subsided, but flames crossed a mountain to the south and reached a settlement and a military firing range, igniting unexploded ordnance.

Emergency crews focused their efforts on preventing fire from advancing toward the coastal town of Megara, which has a population of around 30,000.

Greek authorities issued emergency alerts for evacuating a number of settlements in western Attica, including an industrial estate near Megara.

In the village of Agios Konstantinos, residents were doing their best to halt the spread of the blaze.

AGENCIES-XINHUA