Number of casualties from Turkish cargo plane crash in Georgia still unknown

Reuters. A Turkish C-130 military cargo plane crashed in Georgia after taking off from Azerbaijan on Tuesday (November 11), prompting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to offer condolences for “our martyrs” as search and rescue crews headed for the scene.

Turkey’s defence ministry announced the crash, near Georgia’s border with Azerbaijan, and said it was coordinating with Georgian authorities to reach the site.    

Erdogan, his office and the ministry did not say what caused the crash, and they did not provide the number of casualties. Local media said, without citing numbers, that there were both Turkish and Azerbaijani personnel on board.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said he had spoken by phone to his Georgian counterpart, adding the Georgian minister was en route to the crash site.