Turkey Says Military Cargo Plane Crashes Near Georgia-Azerbaijan Border

The Turkish Defense Ministry said a military cargo plane flying back to Turkey from Azerbaijan has crashed near the border inside Georgian territory.

The ministry said in a post on social media that the aircraft involved in the crash on November 11 was a C-130 plane. Georgia’s Interior Ministry confirmed the accident, saying it occurred “about” 5 km (3 miles) from Georgia’s border with Azerbaijan.

Neither gave any further details including whether there were any casualties or how many people were on board the flight.

“Our C-130 military cargo plane, which took off from Azerbaijan to return home, has crashed at the Georgia-Azerbaijan border,” the Turkish Defense Ministry said, adding only that search and rescue operations were under way.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped casualties would be minimal while offering his condolences for “our martyrs” on the aircraft.

Several short videos of the plane crash — verified by RFE/RL — were circulating on social media, one of which shows the entire fuselage and its fragments falling to the ground in separate pieces.

There also were reports that the pilot managed to eject from the aircraft, though these have not been verified.