Panathinaikos hosted CSKA 1948 at OAKA stadium for the first leg of the Europa Conference League second qualifying round on Wednesday evening. Before kickoff, a one-minute silence was held at center pitch for the pilots and firefighters who lost their lives in recent wildfires across Greece.
Panathinaikos players stood linked arm in arm at the center of the pitch throughout the entire minute of silence. Players from CSKA 1948 stood with their hands behind their backs.
Fatalities during firefighting operations
The tribute remembered 28 year old Pantelis Diamantakis and 60 year old Manolis Stratidakis, who died on Wednesday, July 29, in Krya Vrysi, Rethymno. Both men were trapped alongside their vehicle while attempting to extinguish flames in the area.
The ceremony also honored two operators of a Bell helicopter who died following an aerial collision with another helicopter on the afternoon of Sunday, August 2, while responding to a major fire in Psatha. A Danish operator and a Greek coordinator aboard the helicopter that crashed in the fire zone were killed in the incident.
A British operator and a Greek coordinator on board the second helicopter survived the collision and were taken to the 251 General Air Force Hospital for treatment.
