Two helicopters that were helping to extinguish the fire in Valencia in east Spain crashed on Monday afternoon, local media reported.

Sources from the regional government of Aragon said the pilot of one helicopter was dead. There are, however, media reports that the pilot went missing, as neither the helicopter nor the pilot himself was found.

The pilot was so far known as part of the Brigades of Wild fire Reinforcement from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

The causes of both crashes are yet to be discovered. Media reports said one of the helicopters, which was working on the area of Cortes de Pallas in Valencia, crashed while it was filling up with water next to a marsh called La Forata.

The second helicopter crashed while it was working in Corte de Pallas in Valencia. Both the pilot and copilot on the this helicopter are alive and conscious. They have been taken to the hospital.

The fire in Valencia has become the worst forest fire to happen in over 20 years and has already destroyed over 50,000 hectares of land.

Until now, approximately 2,000 inhabitants from the area have been evacuated and around 2,000 firefighters and also 30 aircraft are working in the area in order to extinguish the fire.

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