Horrifying moment firefighting plane crashes and explodes after disappearing into a canyon while battling wildfires on Greek island
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Shocking footage shows the moment a firefighting plane crashed and exploded into a fireball in southern Greece.
The crash occurred on the island of Evia and was aired in a state television broadcast.
The clip showed the plane battling fires that were raging on the island, before disappearing into a canyon. The fireball was seen moments later.
It is unclear what happened to the plane’s pilot.
Footage showed the plane battling the fires on the island of Evia before it disappeared into a canyon
A short time later, a fireball went up. The status of the plane’s pilot is currently unknown
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The fire brigade did not give further details of the crash. The state broadcaster said the accident took place over the town of Karystos on the island of Evia, east of Athens.
Hundreds of firefighters, helped by forces from Turkey and Slovakia, were battling blazes that have raged on the island of Rhodes since Wednesday and resurged in hot, windy conditions. More emergency flights were due to take home holidaymakers.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday the next days would be difficult, with conditions possibly improving after Thursday.
‘All of us are standing guard,’ he said. ‘In the face of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean which is a climate change hot-spot, there is no magical defence mechanism, if there was we would have implemented it.’
An assessment by scientists published on Tuesday said human-induced climate change has played an ‘absolutely overwhelming’ role in the extreme heatwaves that have swept across North America, southern Europe and China this month.
In Greece, a prosecutor on Rhodes launched an investigation into the causes of the fires and the preparedness and response of authorities, state broadcaster ERT said. It said about 10% of the island’s land area had burned.
Much of southern Europe is enduring one of the longest, driest and hottest summers on record which scientists say has been caused by man-made climate change.
