An 80-year-old man has been arrested for throwing rocks at a helicopter that was fighting a forest fire that has raged for nearly a week in Tenerife. Reuters.
Rocks hit the plane’s blades, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at a nearby soccer field, the city council of Guimard, in the Canary Islands, said.
According to police, the 80-year-old detainee is the owner of the reservoir, from which the helicopter collected water to extinguish the fire.
“We have one less helicopter because someone threw a stone and left it inoperable due to a blow to the tail rotor,” said Rosa Davila, responsible for the administration of the island of Tenerife.
Local farmers protested the use of scarce water resources to fight the fire, but Rosa Davila assured that all water would be replaced.