Firefighting helicopter crashes off of Samos, Greece, leaving two dead and two injured

Two people have died after a helicopter crashed into the sea on the Greek island of Samos.

The aircraft was leased by the government to fight forest fires before amidst Europe’s sweltering heatwave.

According to a Coast Guard spokeswoman, the two victims were a Romanian national and a Greek liaison officer. Two Moldovan nationals were also on beard and survived

The crashed helicopter was a Soviet-era Mi-8 that took off from Samos at 4:39pm local time and crashed off the island at 5:55 pm.

Nine vessels were involved in rescuing the victims following the crash. Of these were five from the Coast Guard, two from the army, two private, and another helicopter.