Russian firefighting plane crashes in Turkey

All eight people aboard a firefighting plane that crashed in southern Turkey on Saturday are dead, according to media reports citing the Russian defense ministry.

The ministry said the amphibious Beriev BE-200 was carrying five Russian army personnel and three Turkish officers.

Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported that rescuers had rushed to the scene with television footage showing plumes of smoke rising from a mountainous region that was believed to be the airplane wreckage.

The Turkish ministry of defense said a plane and helicopter had been rushed to the scene.

Governor Omer Faruk Coskun said emergency teams were rapidly dispatched and Russia said investigators were on their way to the crash site.

The plane had been engaged in efforts to extinguish wildfires burning in the Onikisubat district of Kahramanmaras province. Communication with the plane was lost shortly before it went down.

Crashed while attempting to land

The firefighting plane, which was rented from Russia, went down near Adana as it was about to land, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Raging forest fires in southern Turkey have caused huge devastation this month, resulting in multiple losses of life.

Turkey has fought nearly 300 wildfires since July, with the government calling it the worst in history.

Russian, Spain and Qatar have all sent firefighting planes to assist Turkey in controlling and putting down the raging wildfires.
 

ar, jsi/mm (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)