UPDATE 2: The missing helicopter crew member was found alive.

UPDATE 1: According to new information, there is one survivor, the helicopter pilot, two dead and one missing.

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A Mil-Mi-8 firefighting helicopter that took part in the extinguishing operation of the big fire in Samos went down at around 18:00′ local time and crashed into the sea in the area of ​​Agios Minas, north of Paleochori.

The helicopter went down and crashed into the sea under -currently-unspecified circumstances.

Military sources say the helicopter crashed into the sea, 300 meters west of Plaka beach.

At this time, a major search and rescue operation is underway for the four members of the helicopter crew.

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The four members of the crew are three foreigners, the helicopter operators and a Greek, liaison for the cooperation.

At approximately 18:30′ p.m., the Hellenic Coast Guard located two survivors of the four missing people aboard the helicopter.