A Turkish navy cargo aircraft carrying at the least 20 individuals has crashed close to the Azerbaijan-Georgia border, Turkey’s defence ministry has mentioned.
Officers haven’t confirmed the variety of casualties, however Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier provided his condolences to “our martyrs”.
Search and rescue efforts have begun on the scene. The quantity on board included flight crew, officers mentioned.
The defence ministry mentioned the C-130 cargo aircraft had been travelling from Azerbaijan to Turkey.
Pictures from the scene present emergency providers on web site and what seems to be wreckage from the aircraft.
In keeping with BBC Turkish, Georgia’s aviation authority mentioned the plane disappeared from radar with out issuing a misery sign.
Georgia’s inside ministry mentioned the aircraft crashed close to Sighnaghi, round 5km (3 miles) from Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev mentioned in a message to Erdogan he was “deeply saddened by the tragic information of the lack of servicemen”, and prolonged condolences to him and the individuals of Turkey.
The US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, mentioned on X he was “deeply saddened” by the crash.
“We prolong our heartfelt condolences to the households of the fallen, the Turkish Armed Forces, and the individuals of Türkiye,” he added.
The C-130 is a US-made transport aircraft utilized by air forces world wide.
