(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Swiss helicopters and crews have successfully completed their emergency firefighting mission in Greece.
The three Super Puma helicopters together with the Swiss Humanitarian Aid rapid repsonse team answered a call for help from the Greek authorities on August 7 as wildfires threatened the capital Athens.
Working together with the Greek authorities for seven days, the helicopters carried out 226 rotations and dropped more than 386 tonnes of water onto the forest fires.
Greece has suffered a long heatwave, which has seen temperatures rise to more than 40 degrees Celsius and turned forests bone dry.
Greece also received support from several other countries, including France, Sweden, Cyprus and Romania.
After flying some 75.5 hours, mainly on the island of Euboea and in the Peloponnese, the Swiss teams returned home on Saturday, according to the Swiss authorities.
“Thanks in part to Swiss support, numerous fires could be extinguished or contained and the property of many people was protected from the flames,” read a statementExternal link on Sunday.
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Switzerland continues to monitor ongoing fires in southern Europe and the Balkans in case further emergency responses are required.
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