Two dead after firefighting helicopter crash in Portugal

By AFP
August 31, 2024
A Mi-8 helicopter flies above servicemen during the Zapad 2017 war games at a range near the town of Borisov, Belarus September 20, 2017. — Reuters
A Mi-8 helicopter flies above servicemen during the Zapad 2017 war games at a range near the town of Borisov, Belarus September 20, 2017. — Reuters

LISBON: At least two crew members died and three were missing after a firefighting helicopter crashed on Friday in the Douro River in northern Portugal, authorities said.

The pilot survived the accident. Two bodies were pulled from the underwater crash, commander Rui Silva Lampreia of the National Maritime Authority, told Portuguese media.

Aerial and ground searches were underway for the missing, he said.

The two dead and the missing are all members of the Emergency Protection and Rescue Unit (UEPS) of the national gendarmerie, the country´s civil protection authority said in a communique.

The civilian pilot was found alive and slightly injured, gendarmerie spokeswoman Mafalsa Almeida told AFP.

The crash happened in the region of Lamego a little after 12:30 pm local time (1130 GMT) while the chopper was returning from fighting a fire near Baiao, just inland from the city of Porto.