Belarusian helicopter of Ministry of Emergency Situations takes part in extinguishing forest fires in Latvia

On the instruction of President Alexander Lukashenko, Belarusian Mi-8 helicopter arrived in Latvia to help extinguish fire. The crew has been working for 4 hours already. The work will continue until late at night and will be resumed early in the morning. The helicopter Mi-8 is equipped with a special overflow device. It can collect 2.5 tons of water from any pond. Yesterday Latvia addressed Belarus with the request to help in suppression of large fire. Over a hundred hectares of forest in the country are on fire. Rescuers have been fighting with it for 8 days already.

Belarusian rescuers have a lot of experience in such difficult conditions. Our specialists helped to cope with fire in Turkey, Greece, Russia and Serbia. Last year, the Ministry of Emergency Situations helped to eliminate fire in Georgia. Belarusian fire fighters made almost fifty flights and dropped 750 tons of water in the Borjomi Gorge. Our rescuers returned to their homeland only after the fire in the Borjomi Gorge was completely extinguished.