Back from Greece: Swiss rescuers are on their way home again

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Swiss rescuers have had a challenging time. The Swiss Army’s three Super Puma helicopters, with a total of 23 crew members, were on a humanitarian aid mission in Greece for about a week and a half. First they were used to fight forest fires, but after massive floods they suddenly had to help people trapped in the floods.

The operation ended on Sunday evening, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported yesterday, Monday. On the same day, the helicopters and their crews, as well as the emergency response team of the Federal Humanitarian Aid, were on their flight to Switzerland.

Rescuers have never experienced anything like this before

Lt. Col. Alexander Glinz has never seen such a drastic change in mission. “Normally, the original order remains in force until the end,” the military disaster response commander on site told Blick. A major challenge for everyone involved.

The rescuers had to mentally prepare themselves for a completely new situation. “After the first day of fighting the forest fire, we knew what to expect and where the difficulties lay,” says Glinz. However, this was no longer the case during the spontaneous action to save flood victims.

The three army helicopters were sent to Greece on September 2. In the first phase, Swiss rescuers carried out firefighting flights in the area around Alexandroupolis in northeastern Greece for five days. During a 27-hour flight, 270 tons of water were used. Several fires could have been extinguished or contained and the situation brought under control.

The Greek president thanked the Swiss rescuers

As of last Friday, they were deployed directly at the request of the Greek authorities to provide support in the flood-affected region of Thessaly. During a 23-hour flight, 36 flood victims and helpers were transported and six tons of materials were distributed.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou (67) thanked the Swiss operations team for their work on the occasion of her visit to Alexandroupolis. With its intervention, Switzerland responded to official requests for assistance from the Greek authorities. (dba)

Source:Blick