Search and rescue operation under way after plane with two airmen on board crashes on island of Evia
\n Greek
\nA 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.
\nState 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.
\nTwo 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 \u2013 a team of two airmen.
\nIn 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.
\n\u201cA 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,\u201d the air force added.
\nGreece has been battling wildfires for the past week.
\nPrime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declared on Tuesday that the Mediterranean nation is \u201cat war\u201d with the wildfires raging across the country. \u201cFor the next few weeks, we must be on constant alert. We are at war,\u201d the prime minister told parliament.
\n\u201cWe will rebuild what we lost. We will compensate those who were hurt. \u2026 The climate crisis is already here. It will manifest itself everywhere in the Mediterranean with greater disasters.\u201d
\nHe warned that the nation faced \u201canother three difficult days ahead\u201d before high temperatures are forecast to ease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Search and rescue operation under way after plane with two airmen on board crashes on island of Evia Greek 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-345460","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n