Greek Firefighting Helicopters Collide, Leaving 2 Dead; Wildfires Trigger Emergency Evacuations in Washington State

[Anchor]

In Greece, where firefighters are struggling to contain raging wildfires, two firefighting helicopters have collided in midair, killing two people on board. Meanwhile, in the U.S. state of Washington, three simultaneous wildfires have forced 5,000 households to evacuate under emergency orders. Across the globe, countries are suffering from extreme heatwaves and fires.

Reporter Yu Deok-gi has the details.

[Reporter]

This footage was captured on the 2nd, local time, over a wildfire-stricken area just west of the Greek capital, Athens.

One of two low-flying firefighting helicopters loses control due to strong winds and strikes the underside of the other aircraft.

Immediately after the collision, the helicopter explodes and crashes, killing two people on board while two others are rescued.

A wildfire that began on the island of Crete, fueled by fierce winds reaching up to 130 km/h, spread to forested areas west of Athens, burning down 200 homes.

[Greek Wildfire Victim: The wind direction keeps shifting, making it too difficult to respond. Even trained and experienced firefighters find it hard to put out, so what can we do?]

More than 500 firefighters have been deployed across Greece over the past 72 hours fighting a desperate battle, but the wildfires show little sign of being contained.

Last week, three firefighters lost their lives while battling blazes on the islands of Paros and Crete, as well as the southern Peloponnese.

Wildfires are also running rampant in the United States.

Near Spokane, the second-largest city in Washington state, three simultaneous wildfires have reduced about 600 structures, including homes, to ashes, prompting emergency evacuations for 5,000 households.

The heatwave gripping the entire western region has been pointed to as the cause of the U.S. wildfires.

In Europe, droughts driven by extreme heat are also severe.

As the water level of the Danube River, which flows through 10 European countries, has dropped to a record low, the Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary, which uses river water as coolant, has halted operations today (the 3rd) for the first time in 44 years.

(Video Editing: Jung Sung-hoon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.