All 20 soldiers aboard a Turkish military transport plane tragically lost their lives following a crash in Georgia near the Azerbaijan border on Tuesday. Turkey’s defense ministry has confirmed the fatalities as investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the accident that led to the NATO member’s cargo aircraft going down.
The C-130 aircraft had departed from Azerbaijan and was en route back to Turkey when the incident occurred in Georgia. Footage broadcasted by Turkish media outlets depicted the plane spiraling downwards, emitting white smoke in its wake.
This particular C-130 military cargo plane, commonly utilized by the Turkish armed forces for personnel transportation, had 20 military personnel, including crew members, onboard. The Republic of Türkiye Ministry of National Defence released a statement on Tuesday reporting the crash at the Georgia-Azerbaijan border and the initiation of search and rescue efforts in collaboration with Azerbaijani and Georgian authorities.
Georgian officials arrived at the crash site around 5 pm local time, stated Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, highlighting the ongoing search and rescue operations.
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