Water-dropping aircraft take off to tackle major Greek wildfire, after 2 killed in crash

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Five water-dropping planes and another five helicopters took off at first light Monday to help hundreds of firefighters battling a major wildfire west of Athens, Greece, a day after a midair collision between two firefighting helicopters killed two crew members.

The collision laid bare the danger at the most volatile front of Europe’s wildfire emergency. Flames bore down deeper into the region of the Greek capital, forcing fresh evacuations in the early hours of Monday. In France, firefighters guarded a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris.

The two crew members — one Greek and one Danish national — died when their helicopter collided with another near the seaside area of Psatha while tackling the fire that started Friday morning. The blaze raged through pine forests and scrubland through the weekend, whipped by gale force winds that often prevented water-dropping planes from operating.

The crew of the second helicopter – a Greek and a British national – were taken to a hospital, where their injuries were reported to be light. Foreign firefighting and helicopter crews are often deployed in Greece to help tackle wildfires during the country’s hot, dry summers.

Strong winds were dying down Monday, raising hopes that the nearly 500 firefighters battling the blaze could manage to halt its advance. But authorities warned the broader Athens region of Attica remained at a high risk for wildfires due to a forecast increase in temperatures.

More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from the region, including more than 250 rescued by boats from beaches in the area. Evacuation orders were issued in the early hours of Monday for three more areas, while crews worked to create firebreaks in a forest to help halt the advance of the blaze.

Greece’s firefighting department said Sunday the fire apparently began from sparks emitted by a faulty power line transporting electricity from a private wind generator facility to the main electricity network.

Two people were arrested — an electrical engineer responsible for designing and overseeing the power project, and a contractor involved in constructing the electricity transmission network. Both face felony arson charges, while authorities had also issued an arrest warrant for the owner of the wind generator company.

Greece has devastating wildfires every summer, with hot, dry conditions and frequently strong winds making it easy for small sparks to trigger major blazes. Measures to limit fire risks, such as bans on barbecues and certain outdoor work such as welding and use of electrical power saws are often ignored. The vast majority of the hundreds of wildfires the country has each year are caused by negligence.

But some fires are deliberately set. On Sunday, authorities said one man was arrested on Kefalonia on suspicion of having started a fire that spread quickly in the southeastern part of the island, triggering the evacuation of nearby villages.

Farther west, France’s largest wildfire remained held within its perimeter on Sunday night after forcing 224,000 people to flee in what may have been the country’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.

Hot spots still burned within a 420-square-kilometer (162-square-mile) scar, thousands remained unable to return home, and nearly 3,000 firefighters were deployed against the Gironde megafire and a second blaze in Provence.

Together, fires in France and Spain have driven roughly a third of a million people from homes and vacation sites, emptied communities at the height of the European summer and stretched emergency services across simultaneous disasters.

Adamson reported from Paris.

A firefighting helicopter drops water over a smoke-filled forest during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

Flames are seen on a mountainside during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

A volunteer firefighter observs a flame rising next to a house during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

A volunteer tries to extinguish small flames during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

SURABAYA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers were searching for possible missing passengers Monday after rescuing 229 people from a ferry that caught fire the previous day in waters off the main island of Java, leaving at least five people dead.

The Mutiara Sentosa 2 ferry was traveling from Indonesia’s second-largest city of Surabaya in East Java to the city of Makassar in South Sulawesi, and initial reports said it was carrying 232 passengers and 39 crew members, based on the ship’s manifest, when the fire broke out between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. in waters off Sumenep regency.

However, by Monday morning officials said many more people were aboard than listed, and that the number of people still missing was unclear after 229 people were rescued and five bodies recovered. Officials are relying on reports from the families of victims and survivors in an attempt to determine the number of those missing.

It is common in Indonesia for the number of passengers on a boat or ferry to differ from the manifest. Such discrepancies can reflect overcrowding and complicate search and rescue efforts, said Nanang Sigit, who heads the Surabaya Search and Rescue Office.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known and remained under investigation.

The vessel was also loaded with 180 vehicles, mostly trucks, and an excavator.

Ahmad Abdul Karim, one of the survivors, said the fire appeared to have started from a truck on the lower vehicle deck.

“Fanned by the wind, the flames spread extremely quickly," Karim said, "In less than 30 minutes, everyone had been instructed to move to the bow of the ferry.”

Search and rescue teams dispatched a rescue boat from Surabaya to the scene, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Buruan Sapudi island in the Sumenep regency. Indonesian navy ships also assisted along with a number of passing vessels near the location of the incident.

The ferry was built in Japan in 1992 and operated there before being sold to Indonesia in 2015. With a length of 160 meters (525 feet), it can accommodate 689 passengers and 49 crew, along with up to 181 vehicles.

The Mutiara Sentosa 2 serves the Surabaya-Makassar route, a voyage that typically takes around 40 hours and is primarily used by domestic travelers and cargo transport between the islands of Java and Sulawesi.

Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are a common method of travel. Disasters occur regularly, with weak safety enforcement often blamed.

Associated Press journalists Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

Survivors of a ferry fire arrive at Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Survivors of a ferry fire arrive at Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

A survivor of a ferry fire receives medical attention at Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Rescuers assist a survivors of a ferry fire upon arrival at Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

Smoke billows from passenger ship Mutiara Santosa 2 after it caught fire in the waters off Madura Island, Indonesia, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo)