Firefighting plane crashes in Greece as wildfires rage

A plane fighting wildfires in Greece has crashed on the island of Evia as blazes destroy homes and force the evacuation of thousands of locals and tourists.

State broadcaster ERT shared footage on social media of the plane dropping water over a fire. It is then seen crashing into a hillside and bursting into flames.

Two helicopters rushed to the scene to carry out a search and rescue operation, the air force said. It gave no details on the fate of the crew – a team of two airmen.

In a statement, the air force said the plane, a Canadian CL-215, crashed just after 3pm (12:00 GMT) during a firefighting operation in Platanistos, Evia.

“A search and rescue operation is under way for the two airmen. 1 Super Puma helicopter and 1 AB-205 helicopter of the Air Force, as well as 1 S-70 helicopter of the Navy have rushed to the area,” the air force added.

Greece has been battling wildfires for the past week.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared on Tuesday that the Mediterranean nation is “at war” with the wildfires raging across the country.

“For the next few weeks, we must be on constant alert. We are at war,” the prime minister told parliament. “We will rebuild what we lost. We will compensate those who were hurt. … The climate crisis is already here. It will manifest itself everywhere in the Mediterranean with greater disasters.”

He warned that the nation faced “another three difficult days ahead” before high temperatures are forecast to ease.