Two people on one helicopter – a Greek and a Danish national – died, while the crew on the other, one person from Greece, one from Britain, survived, the fire service said. Investigations had started into what caused the collision, it added.
Europe has been ravaged by wildfires this summer after a period of record-breaking heatwaves and little rain – conditions that scientists say have been exacerbated by climate change.
Destructive blazes in France and Spain showed some signs of easing over the weekend, but several wildfires have broken out in Greece after a period of relative calm there.
The two helicopters collided in the area of Psatha in the Attica region, Greece’s fire service said in a statement.
Video posted on the Forecast Weather Greece Facebook page appeared to show two helicopters closing to cross paths at low altitude, before the main rotor of the lower helicopter struck the underside of the other. The lower one then crashed in flames.
The second helicopter then dumped its load of water and flew away.
Investigations suggested the fire that started in the Greek region of Boeotia before spreading to Attica was caused by sparks from conductors on a private network transmitting electricity generated by wind turbines to the main power grid, the eKathimerini website reported.
Two Greek nationals were arrested on suspicion of negligence, while another suspect remains at large, the report said.
Gale-force winds that had fuelled a fire around Porto Germeno on the Gulf of Corinth 60 km northwest of Athens subsided, but flames crossed a mountain to the south and reached the settlement of Veniza and a military firing range, igniting unexploded ordnance.
Emergency crews focused their efforts on preventing fire from advancing towards the coastal town of Megara, which has a population of around 30,000.
“There are moments when the force of nature and the intensity of weather conditions exceed all human planning and every operational capability,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in his regular Sunday message.
Greek authorities issued emergency alerts for evacuations for a number of settlements in western Attica, including an industrial estate near Megara.
In France, a fire in the southwestern Var region switched direction after a change in the wind and surged into a forested area that was difficult to access, BFM TV reported.
A new fire also broke out alongside a highway near the historic southern city of Carcassonne, apparently caused by a blazing vehicle, BFM TV added.
Video on the channel showed huge plumes of billowing grey smoke and flames near the road. Authorities said they had closed the highway and evacuated a nearby animal park.
In central Spain, wildfires that ripped through tens of thousands of hectares over the past week were mostly under control, though firefighters were dealing with reignitions in some areas.
In the western province of Caceres, a forest blaze erupted on Saturday, prompting the evacuation of around 800 people. Those residents were allowed to return on Sunday but remained confined to their homes as the fire was still active.
Other European countries are struggling with drought and receding water levels in major rivers, including the Rhine and the Danube, which recorded its lowest-ever water levels in Hungary, Serbia and Romania.
Hungary faces a critical five days, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Sunday, as the drying out of the Danube forced the country’s sole nuclear power plant to shut for the first time in more than four decades, with a new heatwave looming.
Falls in water levels amid a lack of rain have also disrupted shipping and tourism in Hungary and triggered water-use restrictions in more than 100 cities and villages.
Danube levels in Serbia fell to their lowest since 1985, cutting the daily output of the country’s biggest hydropower plant to only 20 percent, the energy minister said on Sunday. (Reuters)
