Two firefighters killed while battling a wildfire in southern Crete will be laid to rest Thursday, while authorities are investigating the death of a third firefighter in the southern Peloponnese.
Pantelis Diamantakis, 25, and Manolis Stratidakis, 58, died Wednesday after becoming disoriented in thick smoke while fighting a blaze near the village of Krya Vrysi in the Rethymno regional unit. They became trapped in their fire truck as flames engulfed the area.
Relatives, friends and fellow firefighters are expected to attend the funerals, while local and regional officials have issued messages of condolence honoring the two men who died in the line of duty.
Meanwhile, authorities are investigating the death of a third firefighter, 27-year-old Konstantinos Laimodetis, who died Wednesday in Gytheio in the southeastern Peloponnese.
According to the Fire Service, Laimodetis was coordinating firefighting operations at the scene of a wildfire but was not directly engaged in battling the blaze when he died. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
