Four Turkish soldiers have been killed after a military helicopter crashed in the eastern province of Malatya on Thursday, Turkey’s defence ministry has said.
The S-70 helicopter came down in the Samanköy area of Yeşilyurt district, on the southern outskirts of the provincial capital, at about 18:45 local time. All four personnel on board were killed.
“Four of our heroic comrades-in-arms on board were martyred when our S-70 helicopter crashed in Malatya for reasons that have not yet been determined,” the ministry said in a statement.
Rescue teams reached the wreckage and began search and rescue operations immediately after the crash, the ministry said. The Malatya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened a judicial investigation into the accident.
The crash sparked a fire that spread to a nearby house before emergency crews extinguished it, the Demirören News Agency reported. No casualties on the ground were reported.
The ministry has not disclosed which service operated the helicopter, what mission it was flying, or the names of those killed. The cause of the crash remains unknown pending the investigation.
The S-70 is Sikorsky’s designation for the Black Hawk family of transport helicopters, widely used by the Turkish Armed Forces. Malatya, in eastern Turkey, is home to a major air base, and the province was among those devastated by the earthquakes of February 2023, in which military helicopters played a central role in the relief effort.
Sources: Reuters; Turkish Minute; Daily Sabah; TRT World.
