 "A Hellenic Air Force C-130, carrying members of a Disaster Response Special Unit who will fly to Turkey to help in the aftermath of an earthquake, departs from the military airport of Elefsina, Greece, February 6, 2023. (Representational Photo, Credit: Louiza Vradi/Reuters)")
The Turkish defence ministry on Tuesday said a C-130 military cargo aircraft has crashed in Georgia.
The aircraft was flying from Azerbaijan to Turkey and crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border, state-run TRT quoted the defence ministry as saying.
The ministry said that search and rescue operations were underway.
No details were immediately provided about the number of people on board at the time of the crash.
“Search and rescue operations have begun in coordination with Azerbaijani and Georgian authorities,” the ministry said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped casualties would be minimal and offered his condolences for “our martyrs” on the aircraft, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Separately, Georgia’s interior ministry confirmed the crash and said it occurred “about” 5 kilometres (3 miles) from Georgia’s border with Azerbaijan, as per RFE/RL.
The outlet reported that it had verified many short videos of the crash that were circulating on social media. It said that one of these videos shows the entire fuselage of the aircraft and its fragments falling to the ground in separate pieces.