A pilot has been killed after his firefighting ‌plane crashed while battling a major blaze that has destroyed 200 hectares of protected forest in Poland.

The aircraft came down in ​Solska Forest in the southeast of the country, Poland's interior minister said on Wednesday.

The ​fire broke out on ‌Tuesday afternoon near the village of Kozaki, in Lublin province.

In a translation of a Facebook post, the state fire service, Panstwowa Straz Pozarna (PSP), confirmed it was tackling an "extensive forest fire".

RMF24, a Polish news outlet, said the crash had been confirmed by Anna Sternik, spokesperson for the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Lublin.

It said a Dromader firefighting plane, involved in extinguishing a forest fire, crashed in the village of Osuchy near the town of Bilgoraj.

The Aviation Safety Network reported it was a PZL M-18B Dromader, a single-engine, fixed-wing aircraft.

Source: Sky News