MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Two aircraft arrived in Portugal on August 13 to assist the country in battling wildfires, following the corresponding request was made by Lisbon.
"Currently, the Be-200 aircraft had completed their work in Portugal and are on their way to Moscow," the statement read.
19 August 2016, 08:30 GMT
According to the ministry, the planes made a total of 169 water discharges with a total weight of 2,000 tonnes. As a result, over 50 fires were extinguished and did not spread to the three national parks and 26 settlements, populated by more than 84,000 people.
The Beriev Be-200 is well suited to firefighting missions. It can take in up to 12.5 metric tons of water in the space of a few seconds while traveling over a body of water before dropping this load on the flames.
