Haunting twist in Greece plane crash sees island mourn identical tragedies twice in 15 years

Pictures from the fatal crash on July 23, 2007 – which claimed the lives of two pilots fighting wildfires (Pictures: Getty Images)

When a Canadair CL-415 crashed into the hillside of a Greek island this morning, locals were hit with a feeling of ‘sad irony’.

For 15 years ago, nearly to the day, a similar tragedy occurred just 30 minutes away.

Two Greek pilots lost their lives while fighting wildfires on July 23, 2007.

They had been deployed to the region to tackle flames near the town of Styra, on the island of Evia.

Eyewitnesses said the Canadair CL-415 plummeted to the ground after the pilots didn’t realise the weight of their load.

It lost altitude and crashed into an area of land between two houses. 

Both the pilots were killed instantly in the tragedy.

The 2007 crash occurred just 30 minutes from Karystos, where a near-identical model of plane crashed this morning.

The scene of the 2007 plane crash on Stira, on the island of Evia(Photo credit should read TAKIS TAKATOS/AFP via Getty Images)

This morning’s crash, near the town of Karysto, was filmed by a local news outlet (Picture: EPT News)

The owners of Villa Kasteli, a retreat nestled in the hills of the Evia island, said it was ‘ironic and sad’ for locals to hear the news of yet another crash.

They could see a host of ambulances and emergency vehicles race to the scene after the alarm was raised.

The villa owners, who preferred not to be named, told Metro.co.uk: ‘The plane [in today’s crash] picked up water from Karystos bay and headed over the mountain to put out the fire. 

‘They dropped the water and as you can see in the video unfortunately on the ascent one of the wings touched a tree and they crashed and exploded on impact. Two young Greek pilots dead. 

‘The scene near the crash is all burnt and black.’

There are reportedly two airmen aboard the plane involved in this morning’s crash, with their condition unknown.

Strya and Karystos – on the Greek island of Evia – are popular with tourists (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

The villa owners – who were visited by Boris Johnson and his family last August – say they are safe from the flames.

They live in a mountain area around 30 minutes from the wildfire area where the Greek place crashed.

They are ‘all ready’ to evacuate if the order is given by authorities.

The owners continued: ‘We have access to food and water because we aren’t affected by the fire, but the people in the villages where the fires are have all evacuated.

‘There are hotels in Karystos offering shelter to those who had to leave. They are small villages and mostly old people who don’t have much. It’s a tragedy.’

A large number of firefighters on the ground are volunteers, doing what they can to protect homes and families from the flames.

Many are using their own vehicles to race around the island to put out the fires.

Thousands of tourists have been evacuated from Greece as dangerous wildfires spread by high winds continue to ravage the country.

Up to 10,000 British tourists were affected and a number of repatriation flights have brought them back to the UK.

The final repatriation flight planned by Tui is set to take off on Tuesday morning.

Some 19,000 people have been evacuated on the island of Rhodes, with at least 2,500 people evacuated from Corfu.

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When a Canadair CL-415 crashed into the hillside of a Greek island this morning, locals were hit with a feeling of ‘sad irony’. For 15 years ago, nearly to the day, a similar tragedy occurred just minutes away.