The dead and wounded from a Turkish military helicopter crash were transported to local hospitals late on Tuesday (July 5).
Seven people were killed and eight injured when the helicopter, carrying Turkish military personnel, their wives and children, crashed in the Black Sea region of northeast Turkey, the Turkish armed forces said.
The helicopter crashed at around 5:15 pm (1415 GMT) near Tohumluk village in the Alucra district of Giresun province, the military said.
Vehicles carrying the bodies of soldiers killed in the crash arrived at a hospital in the coastal city of Giresun, while the wounded pilot was transported to an emergency unit in Sivas.
The cause of the Sikorsky helicopter’s crash, as it returned to Giresun from a visit to military outposts in the area, could not immediately be determined, a statement on the military’s website said.
However, the prime minister and one of his deputies said poor weather was responsible, rather than a militant attack. The Turkish armed forces are involved in a conflict with Kurdish militants focused in the country’s southeast.
Those on board, who according to media reports included a brigadier general, had been visiting military personnel and their families at gendarmerie outposts to mark the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016
