An alarm was raised early in the afternoon at the Fire Service, as a helicopter operating on a fire burning in Grevena crashed into Lake Aoos in Metsovo during water collection.

Video footage has captured the moment the firefighting helicopter fell into the artificial Lake Aoos.

In the footage, the helicopter can be seen attempting to take on water. However, when it tried to gain altitude, its tail section touched the surface of the water, causing it to lose stability and fall into the lake.

When the rotor blades came into contact with the water, an explosion followed.

The two pilots swam to a dry area in the lake, where they were picked up by a boat and handed over to an ambulance to be transferred to hospital for precautionary checks.