Helicopter crashes on popular holiday island as three bodies found

Firefighters fought to put out a fast-spreading fire on the island of Sifnos

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Zahra Khaliq News Reporter and Adam Care

19:04, 17 Aug 2026

[Private helicopter crashes on Sifnos]

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Three people have died after a helicopter crashed in Greece

A helicopter crash which sparked a huge fire on a popular Greek island has claimed three lives.

A private helicopter is believed too have gone down shortly after 6pm local time today (4pm UK time) on Sifnos.

Firefighters and rescue crews raced to the crash site close to homes in the Tholos neighbourhood, quickly bringing the flames under control.

Three bodies were recovered from the site, the fire department said, but their identities and the cause of the crash have not yet been confirmed, reports the Mirror.

Proto Thema reports emergency services were first alerted to the incident at around 6:17pm.

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Sifnos is a popular island in the western Aegean Sea(Image: Getty Images)

Firefighters and a rescue team from Syros, who arrived on a high-speed boat operated by the Fire Brigade, attended the scene.

What appears to be thick black smoke billowing from a fireball at the crash site was visible in an image taken in the immediate aftermath.

A stunning island in the western part of the Cyclades island group in Greece, Sifnos sits between Serifos and Milos.

It is around 76 nautical miles (140 km) from Piraeus, Athens' main port, and is widely celebrated as a culinary hotspot with a rich pottery history and scenic villages.

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