(Photo: STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images) Military officers and firemen search for the debris of a Canadair CL-215 firefighting aircraft, which crashed near while being flown to fight a wildfire in Karystos, on the Greek Aegean island of Evia, on July 25, 2023. Two pilots died when their water-bombing plane crashed while battling a blaze on the Greek island of Evia on July 25, as wildfires flared across the Mediterranean. Greece's fire department said the Canadair aircraft crashed into a ravine close to where the fire started on July 23, 2023. Footage on state TV ERT showed the plane clipping a tree before falling nose-first and exploding.

Two pilots from the Hellenic Air Force were killed after losing control of the Canadair CL-215 firefighting aircraft they piloted when it clipped a tree and crashed in the town of Karystos on the island of Evia near Athens Tuesday (July 25), one of many wildfires across Greece authorities are attempting to extinguish.

The pilots were identified as Flt. Lt. Christos Moulas, 34, and 2nd Lt. Periklis Stefanidis, 27, of the 355 Tactical Transport Squadron, 112 Combat Wing off of Elefsina Air Base.

Television crews from state broadcaster ERT captured the events of the crash in real-time.

Local residents told Greek media that firefighter planes were battling a fire that sparked in a difficult place, forcing the pilots to make dangerous maneuvers to make sure the water they spray would hit the fire.

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Greek Military Remembers Downed Pilots, PM Mitsotakis Warns Countrymen

The Greek Armed Forces, under the directive of Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, have declared a three-day mourning period from July 25 to 27 in honor of Lieutenants Moulas and Stefanidis, who died in the line of duty "while attempting to protect the lives and property of citizens, as well as the environment of our country".

Other wildfires are burning across the country as a result of a heatwave baking most of Europe and North America, including one on Rhodes, in the southeastern Aegean, which prompted mass evacuations of locals and tourists alike.

Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned his countrymen difficult times were ahead as most of Europe suffered in the heatwave. "In the face of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean which is a climate change hot-spot, there is no magical defense mechanism, if there was we would have implemented it," he added.

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