Water bomber crashed in Turkey during wildfire mission
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One of the aircraft involved in fighting the extensive forest fires in southern Turkey has crashed during a combat mission. All eight people on board have died, reports Reuters.
The Russian water scooping plane crashed on Saturday in a steep mountainous area near the city of Adana.
The Beriev-200 firefighting aircraft, which was used in the aerial response to the fire in the region and rented by Turkey from Russia, crashed on the slope of Engizek Mountain at around 14:30. It was allegedly during a mission fighting the fire in the Onikisubat district of Kahramanmaraş, about 50 km NW of Gaziantep.
A fire had started out at around 13:00 in the area of Kahramanmaraş’s Onikisubat district. Locals who saw the rising smoke reported the fire to the authorities, and 100 ground firefighters, 10 water tanks, 1 plane and 2 helicopters were sent to the region.
Crash data were initially scarce, however the Russian Ministry of Defense now tells the news agency Interfax that everyone on board the plane has died, reports Reuters. There were five crew members from the Russian military and three Turkish nationals.
The Turkish Ministry of Defense is said to have sent another military plane and a helicopter to the crash site.
It is still unclear what caused the crash.
In the last two weeks, firefighters have worked intensively to fight the wildfires that are raging in the southern coastal regions. Most of the fires are now allegedly under control.
Follow this link to see YouTube video of the crash captured by locals in the region near the crash site.
Cover photo:
Beriev Be-200ES water bomber © Dmitriy Pichugin on Wikimedia
The Beriev-200 Russian aircraft, called the Be-200 for short, is a Russian-made amphibious jet aircraft manufactured by Altair Beriev. The aircraft is designed for firefighting, search and rescue, maritime patrol, cargo and passenger transportation, and has the capacity to carry 12 tonnes of water, which it fills in 14 seconds at a speed of 150-190 kilometres per hour.
Source: Deutsche Welle Türkçe