“By decision of the Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias, the armed forces declared a three-day mourning in connection with the death of the pilots of the CL-215 firefighting plane operating on the island of Euboea in the line of duty of Air Force officers,” the ministry said in a statement.
Let us remember that the event occurred during the day during the extinction of a forest fire. Before falling, the low-flying plane hit a tree with its wing, crashed to the ground and caught fire.
Earlier, a fire on the island of Rhodes forced the Greek authorities to carry out the largest population evacuation in the country’s history. “According to the first estimates of the police, a preventive evacuation of some 19,000 people was carried out,” reported ERT.
