Swiss Army extends fire-fighting mission in Corsica
Keystone-SDA
Due to the continuing need for support, the Swiss Armed Forces are extending their mission in Corsica by a further four days. Three Super Puma helicopters are assisting the French emergency services there in fighting forest fires.
The three helicopters took off from Locarno Military Airfield on Tuesday and have been assisting local emergency services since Wednesday in tackling hard-to-reach fire hotspots, the defence ministry announced on Saturday.
Switzerland will continue to support fire-fighting efforts on the ground until and including Thursday, before the emergency services are repatriated on Friday. According to the army, the helicopters deployed had transported around 157 tonnes of water for fire-fighting as of Friday evening.
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A total of 22 people are on board the three Super Puma helicopters, including firefighting specialists, mechanics and two members of the humanitarian aid team from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
The operation falls under the overall responsibility of the Federal Humanitarian Aid programme, which is part of the SDC within the foreign ministry. The costs associated with the operation are covered by existing appropriations from the foreign ministry and the defence ministry.
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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
