Two Greek air force pilots died after a plane crashed while battling forest fires on the island of Evia on Tuesday.
The accident occurred as Greece is battling against the wildfires on three major fronts, including the tourist islands of Rhodes and Corfu, and other blazes amid a heatwave across much of the Mediterranean region, killing dozens of people in Algeria.
In a statement, the country’s air force said that their water-bombing plane, a Canadair CL-215, crashed at 2:52 pm (local time) during a firefighting operation in Platanistos on Tuesday.
After the incident, a search operation started in the area and determined that the plane’s captain, aged 34, and co-pilot, 27, were both dead.
“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 defence ministry said in a statement.