Firefighting plane crashes in Greece while battling wildfires | Watch video

A firefighting plane has crashed while battling wildfires in Southern Greece.

The crash took place in the Greek Island of Evia after the plane disappeared into a canyon. The incident was aired live on national television which showed the low-flying aircraft vanish in to a canyon before a bunch of flames erupted moments later.

The incident occurred over the town of Karystos on the island near Athens, where a fire has been burning. Here is the video of the incident:

It is not known how many people were onboard the aircraft and if they survived the crash.

The incident occurred as the authorities battle fires across the country amid a return of heatwave temperatures. Temperatures have been pushed over 40 degrees across the country leading to fires that have raged out of control for days. An increasing number of nighttime evacuations were prompted on Tuesday on the islands of Corfu and Evia due to the raging fires.

Due to the lack of readily available resources to fight flames, many residents took it upon themselves to take on the flames themselves. Many of them put wet towels around their necks to battle the scorching heat as they used shovels to beat back flames approaching their homes. Meanwhile firefighting planes and helicopters have started water drops.

More than 20,000 people has been evacuated from the, according to the authorities, mostly comprising of tourists over the weekend. Meanwhile, fire swept through two coastal areas on the southeast of Rhodes.

The European Union sent 500 firefighters, 100 vehicles and seven planes from 10 member states. Other countries like Turkey, Israel, Egypt and other countries continue to help.

This is a developing story.