Two pilots have died after an aircraft fighting wildfires in Greece crashed – as crews battled more than 50 blazes across the country.
The crash happened over the town of Karystos on the island of Evia near Athens – and was broadcast on state television.
Footage showed the low-flying aircraft disappearing into a canyon before a fireball was seen moments later.
The Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, confirmed that both pilots, aged 34 and 27, had died in the crash.
“The loss of the lives of Air Force Officers and firefighting aircraft operators, in the line of duty and while attempting to protect the lives and property of citizens, as well as the environment of our country, is deeply saddening, he said in a statement.”
“Our thoughts are with their families and colleagues, to whom we extend our most sincere condolences.”
Mr Dendias also announced a three-day mourning period within the Armed Forces, while prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis cancelled a planned visit to Cyprus for Wednesday.
Image: The plane moments before the crash
Image: The plane crashes into a hill on the island of Evia. Pic: ENEX/EPT
New evacuation warning issued
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It comes as thousands of Britons have been flown back from Rhodes – with new estimates suggesting 10% of land on the Greek island has been burned by wildfires.
Additional flights bringing stranded holidaymakers landed in the UK overnight, and more are expected to arrive throughout the day.
As many as 10,000 Britons were estimated to be on the island, a favourite tourist destination, the Foreign Office said.
Image: Thousands of people have been evacuated. Pic: Hellenic Red Cross
Scores of people were forced to spend the weekend sleeping rough on beaches, sun loungers, or on the streets as wildfires raged.
Temperatures have risen above 40C (104F) in parts of Greece, and on Rhodes – where a blaze is continuing to move inland, touching mountainous forest areas including part of a nature reserve.
A new evacuation warning has been issued for the inland village of Vati, and people there are being urged to move to Lindos.
Greece’s fire department says it has battled 53 wildfires across the country in the last 24 hours, including on the islands of Rhodes and Corfu, as well as “multiple flare-ups” on Evia and in the region of Achaea, to the west of Athens.
Local officers and arson investigators are probing the cause of the fires.
In Corfu, people in three areas have been told to evacuate from what the deputy mayor of north Corfu, Haris Yiotis, describes as the “fire of the century”.
Image: A satellite image shows the wildfire in Rhodes – with the grey areas showing the burn marks across the land. Pic: Planet Labs PBC via Reuters
However, he says not a single life has been lost and not a single inhabited building has been destroyed by the fire – though some abandoned buildings have been affected.
Desperate residents with wet towels around their necks have been using shovels to beat back the flames approaching their homes – with firefighting planes and helicopters resuming water drops at first light.
Sea evacuations have also been taking place at a beach in Corfu to transport individuals fleeing wildfires there.
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2:16
Corfu: Thousands moved to safety
‘We are at war’
Greek PM Mr Mitsotakis has said “we are at war” and completely focused on tackling the wildfires.
He is holding crisis talks with his ministers on Tuesday and has warned difficult days lie ahead, with conditions possibly set to improve on Thursday.
Large swathes of the country are at the highest risk level for fires tomorrow.
Mr Mitsotakis warned: “I will state the obvious – in the fact of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean which is a climate hotspot, there is no magical defence mechanism. If there was, we would have implemented it.”
Today, scientists have published an assessment that states human-induced climate change has played an “absolutely overwhelming” role in the extreme heatwaves seen worldwide in recent weeks.
Prosecutors on Rhodes are now investigating what has caused the fires, and examining the preparedness and response of the authorities.
Image: Flames burn a hill on the island of Rhodes. Pic:AP
Image: A wildfire burns on the mountains near Vati village, Rhodes. Pic: AP
The EU has sent 500 firefighters, 100 vehicles and seven planes from 10 member states – with Turkey, Israel and Egypt also offering support.
Vassilis Kikilias, Greece’s climate minister, said crews are “fighting non-stop on dozens of forest fire fronts” – with 12 consecutive days of heat and strong winds.
“The Greek Fire Service has battled more than 500 fires – more than 50 a day,” he added.
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10:46
Gove ‘heading to Greece next week’
It comes as Housing Secretary Michael Gove told Sky News on Tuesday that he plans to holiday on the Greek island of Evia in just over a week, and insisted the region is safe for holidaymakers despite fire concerns.
Some 77 firefighters were battling scattered outbreaks in Evia on Monday.
EasyJet repatriated 421 people back to the UK on two flights from Rhodes on Monday, with a third on Tuesday. This is in addition to nine scheduled flights to the island that are also taking place.
Jet2 had four repatriation flights scheduled for Monday evening – to Manchester, Bradford and Birmingham – with a total of 787 seats.
Fifty scheduled flights are going to take holidaymakers back from Rhodes this week, but each aircraft will leave the UK empty after all outbound flights and holidays were cancelled until Sunday.
Labour has suggested that the government should “rethink” the advice it is giving for Britons who have booked a trip to Rhodes.
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0:19
Airport closes in Sicily as wildfire approaches
Fires force airport to close in Italy
In Italy, a wildfire forced the closure of Palermo airport in Sicily for a few hours, as firefighters worked to put out a major blaze in a nearby area that also disrupted local road and rail traffic.
The incident added to Sicily’s travel misery at the peak of the tourist season. On some parts of the island, temperatures rose to 47.6C (117.7F) on Monday – close to a record European high of 48.8C (120F) recorded there two years ago.
Image: Flames burn in vegetation in Sicily. Pic: AP
Italy has put 16 cities on red alert because of the high temperatures.
Meanwhile, an overnight storm tore off roofs and uprooted trees in Milan, blocking roads and disrupting transport.
A Delta flight that took off from Milan and was bound for New York was forced to land in Rome after its nose and fuselage were severely damaged by a hailstorm.
And two women were killed on Monday and Tuesday in the northern Monza and Brescia provinces after being crushed by falling trees.
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1:11
Impact of wildfires in the last 24 hours
In southern France, several dozen firefighters battled a wildfire in the Cagnes-sur-Mer and Villeneuve-Loubet areas, to the west of Nice.
The Bouches-du-Rhone region, which includes the city of Marseille, has been placed under a “red alert”, with authorities seeing a “very high risk” of wildfires.
In Algeria, wildfires have killed 34 people – including 10 soldiers trying to get the flames under control in the face of high winds and searing summer temperatures.
Image: A forest fire rages on in the mountainous area of Bourbatache, Algeria. Pic: AP
Image: Vehicles were burnt out after wildfires in Algiers. Pic: AP
Bejaia, part of the Berber-speaking Kabyle region east of Algiers, was the hardest-hit area, with 23 deaths since Sunday, the local Soummam Radio reported on Tuesday.
Another 197 people have been injured, while at least 1,500 people have been evacuated.
Fires have also forced the closure of two border crossings with neighbouring Tunisia, where temperatures have hit 49C (120.2F) in some cities.
At least 37 people were killed last August when wildfires raged near Algeria’s northern border with Tunisia.
“Liberation day” was due to be on 1 April. But Donald Trump decided to shift it by a day because he didn’t want anyone to think it was an April fool.
It is no joke for him and it is no joke for governments globally as they brace for his tariff announcements.
It is stunning how little we know about the plans to be announced in the Rose Garden of the White House later today.
It was telling that we didn’t see the President at all on Tuesday. He and all his advisers were huddled in the West Wing, away from the cameras, finalising the tariff plans.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is the so-called ‘measured voice’. A former hedge fund manager, he has argued for targeted not blanket tariffs.
Peter Navarro is Trump’s senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing. A long-time aide and confidante of the president, he is a true loyalist and a firm believer in the merits of tariffs.
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His economic views are well beyond mainstream economic thought – precisely why he appeals to Trump.
The third key character is Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary and the biggest proponent of the full-throttle liberation day tariff juggernaut.
The businessman, philanthropist, Trump fundraiser and billionaire (net worth ranging between $1bn and $2bn) has been among the closest to Trump over the past 73 days of this presidency – frequently in and out of the West Wing.
If anything goes wrong, observers here in Washington suspect Trump will make Lutnick the fall guy.
And what if it does all go wrong? What if Trump is actually the April fool?
“It’s going to work…” his press secretary said when asked if it could all be a disaster, driving up the cost of living for Americans and creating global economic chaos.
“The president has a brilliant team who have been studying these issues for decades and we are focussed on restoring the global age of America…” Karoline Leavitt said.
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2:52
‘Days of US being ripped off are over’
Dancing to the president’s tune
My sense is that we should see “liberation day” not as the moment it’s all over in terms of negotiations for countries globally as they try to carve out deals with the White House. Rather it should be seen as the start.
Trump, as always, wants to be seen as the one calling the shots, taking control, seizing the limelight. He wants the world to dance to his tune. Today is his moment.
But beyond today, alongside the inevitable tit-for-tat retaliation, expect to see efforts by nations to seek carve-outs and to throw bones to Trump; to identify areas where trade policies can be tweaked to placate the president.
Even small offerings which change little in a material sense could give Trump the chance to spin and present himself as the winning deal maker he craves to be.
One significant challenge for foreign governments and their diplomats in Washington has been engaging the president himself with proposals he might like.
Negotiations take place with a White House team who are themselves unsure where the president will ultimately land. It’s resulted in unsatisfactory speculative negotiations.
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6:03
Treasury minister: ‘We’ll do everything to secure a deal’
Too much faith placed in the ‘special relationship’?
The UK believes it’s in a better position than most other countries globally. It sits outside the EU giving it autonomy in its trade policy, its deficit with the US is small, and Trump loves Britain.
It’s true too that the UK government has managed to accelerate trade conversations with the White House on a tariff-free trade partnership. Trump’s threats have forced conversations that would normally sit in the long grass for months.
Yet, for now, the conversations have yielded nothing firm. That’s a worry for sure. Did Keir Starmer have too much faith in the ‘special relationship’?
Downing Street will have identified areas where they can tweak trade policy to placate Trump. Cars maybe? Currently US cars into the UK carry a 10% tariff. Digital services perhaps?
US food? Unlikely – there are non-tariff barriers on US food because the consensus seems to be that chlorinated chicken and the like isn’t something UK consumers want.
Easier access to UK financial services maybe? More visas for Americans?
For now though, everyone is waiting to see what Trump does before they either retaliate or relent and lower their own market barriers.
A man inside Mandalay has told Sky News bodies remain under “collapsed and inclining” buildings after the Myanmar earthquake – as a woman was freed from rubble after 91 hours.
The local inside Myanmarsaid many of the structures in the city were wrecked or badly damaged after the 7.7 magnitude quake on Friday, adding: “There are some bodies, some dead bodies, that still remain and other destruction”.
Meanwhile, in a televised address, Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing said the number of dead had risen to 2,719 and is expected to exceed 3,000.
Some 4,521 people have been injured, while a further 441 are missing.
More than 10,000 buildings are known to have collapsed or been severely damaged in central and northwest Myanmar, the World Health Organisation said.
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0:41
Before and after: Myanmar earthquake
Smell of dead bodies near destroyed buildings
In Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, which was close to the quake’s epicentre, 50 children and two teachers were killed when their preschool collapsed, the United Nations said.
The local in the city told Sky News that “a lot of local assistance associations like charity groups are still struggling with digging out the corpses, the dead bodies, from the destruction”.
He said that “when we pass near the destructions, the collapsed building or very damaged building, we can smell” dead bodies.
“The smell of the dead bodies after four days… it still remains,” he said, before adding: “For the social assistance association… they need permission [to give aid] especially from the government.
“If they don’t have permission, then they cannot do anything.”
Image: People sheltering in a makeshift tent camp in Mandalay. Pic: Reuters
He also said others in Mandalay are struggling after the earthquake, which followed the city being affected by cyclones, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the civil war in Myanmar – where a junta seized power in a coup in 2021.
“Some people, they say they have nothing at all,” the local added. “They have no more home, they have no more belongings, because its already damaged.”
Woman freed after 91 hours under rubble
It comes after the fire department in Myanmar’s capital freed a woman trapped under rubble 91 hours after the building collapsed.
The 63-year-old woman was freed early on Tuesday in Naypyidaw.
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As the country continues to recover, a worker from the International Rescue Committee said people fear aftershocks and are sleeping outside on roads or in open fields.
Communities are struggling to meet basic needs such as access to clean water and sanitation, and emergency teams are working “tirelessly” to locate survivors and provide aid, the UN said in a report.
Rescue efforts have been complicated by the civil war, as rebel groups say the junta has conducted airstrikes, even after the quake, while NGOs fear that certain areas could be denied vital supplies.
“Myanmar’s military has a longstanding practice of denying aid to areas where groups who resist it are active,” said Joe Freeman, a researcher with Amnesty Myanmar.
“It must immediately allow unimpeded access to all humanitarian organisations and remove administrative barriers delaying needs assessments.”
The father of a paramedic killed by Israel in Gaza has told Sky News he would have been on the mission to rescue wounded colleagues, but was ill that day and so his son went instead.
“It was supposed to be me, you know. I was on duty that night but fell ill and sent him in my place.”
Speaking at his son’s funeral, Hassan Abu Hileh said Israel is to blame for the death of Mohammed and the other 14 men.
Image: Hassan Abu Hileh’s son Mohammed was killed when Israeli forces said they ‘opened fire on suspicious vehicles’
“We need protection from the international community. We need protection for medical teams. We are medics-soldiers of duty, not armed fighters. We carry out humanitarian work. If I see someone who needs medical attention, I’m obligated to serve them,” he said.
The bodies of the Red Crescent and United Nations workers went missing around eight days ago. Despite repeated requests to search for them, all denied by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), the UN eventually found 14 bodies buried under sand in a mass grave. One is still missing.
They were still wearing their uniforms.
Image: Funerals took place on Monday for medics killed in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
The director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza has accused Israel of murdering the emergency workers. “We arrived at the scene of the crime to retrieve the bodies and found that all of them had been shot directly in the upper part of their bodies and buried,” said Dr Bashir Murad.
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“The ambulances were also destroyed and buried.”
Image: Dr Bashir Murad, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza, said the workers had been shot
The bodies were found in sand in the south of the Gaza Strip in what Jonathan Whittall, Gaza head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, called a “mass grave”, marked with the emergency light from a crushed ambulance.
Mr Whittall posted pictures and video of Red Crescent teams digging in the sand for the bodies and workers laying them out on the ground, covered in plastic sheets.
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1:22
Bodies of aid workers found in Gaza
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has denied killing innocent medical workers and said Israeli forces opened fire on suspicious vehicles that were travelling without coordination and in an active combat zone.
“The IDF did not randomly attack an ambulance on March 23,” claimed a spokesman.
“Last Sunday, several uncoordinated vehicles were identified advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights or emergency signals. IDF troops then opened fire at the suspected vehicles.
“Earlier that day, cars that did not belong to terrorists were coordinated and passed safely on the same route.”
We have asked the IDF why the bodies were found in a mass grave but have received no comment.
More than 400 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the UN.
According to the UN, at least 1,060 healthcare workers have been killed in the 18 months since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
The UN is reducing its international staff in Gaza by a third because of safety concerns.