Two firefighting helicopters collided while battling a wildfire in the Psatha area, west of Greece's capital Athens, on Sunday, prompting authorities to launch a rescue operation to locate the crew, the fire department said.
"Search and rescue teams were immediately mobilised to locate and assist the crews," the fire service said.
According to state broadcaster ERT, one crew member was found safe, while search operations were under way to locate the second.
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Television footage showed one of the helicopters bursting into flames and crashing to the ground following what appeared to be a mid-air rotor collision.
WATCH: 2 firefighting helicopters collide midair in Greece pic.twitter.com/15HP9DUMwa
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) August 2, 2026
The incident comes as Greece battles multiple wildfires across the country, with large stretches of forest and agricultural land believed to have been destroyed. The worsening fire situation has prompted Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to warn that the country faces "extremely difficult" days ahead.
Mitsotakis said Greece was experiencing "extreme weather conditions", with wind speeds reaching 100 kilometres (60 miles) per hour, making firefighting efforts more challenging.
"When the winds blow with such force, even the dozens of aircraft we have at our disposal cannot operate safely," he wrote on Facebook. "There are moments when nature and the intensity of weather phenomena surpass any human planning and any operational capability," he added.
Nearly 500 firefighters were battling a wildfire near the coastal village of Porto Germeno, about 70 kilometres northwest of Athens, as crews worked to stop the flames from reaching the city's western outskirts after the fire spread over a mountain overnight.
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Separately, around 100 firefighters were battling another blaze in Aigialia in the northern Peloponnese region.
And some early estimates from meteo.gr suggested the fires had scorched more than 6,500 hectares (16,000 acres), while strong northerly winds continued to hamper firefighting efforts, although conditions had eased slightly, as reported by Hindustan Times.
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