A Greek water-bombing plane crashed Tuesday while battling a forest fire on the island of Evia as hundreds of firefighters struggled to beat back blazes still raging in Rhodes and Corfu amid a new wave of soaring temperatures.
The fire department said the Canadair aircraft crashed into a ravine close to where the fire started on Sunday. Footage on state TV ERT showed the plane clipping a tree before falling nose-first and exploding.
"A Greek Canadair plane, with at least two people on board, crashed near Platanisto," a village in Evia, spokesman Yannis Artopios said.
The plane was among at least three other aircraft and around a hundred firefighters in the fight against the flames on Evia.
The accident occurred as Greece battled wildfires on three major fronts, including the tourist islands of Rhodes and Corfu, with many of the country's regions listed at extreme risk of dangerous forest fires exacerbated by strong winds.
"A three-day mourning period is declared in the Armed Forces for the loss of life, in the line of duty, of the Air Force officers and pilots of the firefighting aircraft CL-215, which was operating in Evia," the Greek defence ministry said in a statement.
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