MINSK, 23 August (BelTA) – The heavy helicopter sent by the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry to help extinguish a forest fire in Georgia has started working, representatives of the Ministry told BelTA.
The Mi-26 helicopter landed in Georgia at 07:12 on 23 August. Soon after that it started extinguishing a forest fire in the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Rescue workers from Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Armenia are also involved in the fire-fighting effort.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili thanked Belarus for the assistance via his official Twitter account.
The forest fire in the Borjomi-Kharagauli forest began on 20 August. Strong winds rapidly spread the fires all over the national park. Since there are no aerial units for fighting fires in Georgia, rescue workers spent an entire night cutting trees to make a road for fire trucks. Careless handling of an open fire may have sparked the disaster.
BelTA reported earlier that the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry sent a heavy Mi-26 helicopter to Georgia upon instructions of the head of state.
Mi-26 is a heavy multipurpose transport helicopter, which boasts the world's largest cargo lift capacity. It is fitted with an external tank to be able to fight fires. The tank can hold up to 15 tonnes of water. Fire-fighting helicopters have been proven effective many times, particularly in rough terrain where delivering water by surface transport is impossible.
