isbon, July 16 (AFP/APP): A plane that was battling forest fires in northern Portugal crashed Friday, killing its pilot, the civil defence said.
No one else was on board the single-engine air tanker that plunged to its end near Vila Nova de Foz Coa, as it was trying to put out flames in the Braganca region, it added.
“It is with great dismay that I have learned of the death of the pilot flying the plane that crashed while putting out a fire,” Prime Minister Antonio Costa wrote on Twitter.
Firefighters have been battling blazes in Portugal, where temperatures hit a July record 47 Celsius (116 Fahrenheit) Thursday before dropping slightly the following day.
The civil defence late Friday said 900 firefighters were still battling around 10 fires across the country.
A heatwave has left much of southwestern Europe sweltering over the past week.
On Thursday, two people were killed after a firefighting helicopter carrying four crew members crashed into the sea off Greece.
Follow the PNI Facebook page for the latest news and updates.
