Fight against Turkish forest fires: Russian fire-fighting plane crashed

There was a fatal accident during the fire fighting work in Turkey: A Russian fire fighting plane crashed and at least eight people died. In the north, meanwhile, they are grappling with the consequences of the floods.

Eight people were killed in the crash of a Russian fire-fighting plane in Turkey. This was announced by the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The Russian Defense Ministry said there were five Russian soldiers and three Turks on board.

According to the Russian government, the machine was used to extinguish a forest fire in the province of Kahramanmaras near the border with Syria.

The cause of the crash is unclear. According to Russian sources, the accident occurred on landing. Aerial photos by the state news agency Anadolu showed fire and smoke rising from the alleged wreckage of the aircraft.

There have been around 300 fires across the country since the end of July. Most of them have now been deleted. Several countries – including Russia, Spain and Qatar – supported the extinguishing work. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the relatives. The specialists from both countries were involved in an important humanitarian operation.

More than 100 missing people

Meanwhile, the north of the country continues to suffer from the consequences of massive rainfall. Turkish television showed pictures of a brown avalanche that pushed its way through the streets and swallowed everything that was on its way. Cities, villages and hospitals were evacuated and thousands of people had to be brought to safety.

According to official information, there were at least 44 dead. In the city of Bozkurt, rescue workers searched for survivors in destroyed buildings on Saturday. It was feared that ten people might be buried under the rubble of a collapsed building.

During a visit to the region, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that 120 teams were already in the process of absorbing the damage. They are also working on getting the infrastructure going again.

As much rain on one day as usual in the six months

Most recently in some Black Sea provinces it had rained as much in 24 hours as it usually did in six months. Further rain is predicted for several of the affected regions in the north on the Black Sea.

In the mountainous regions of Turkey there is often heavy rainfall in summer, which causes floods and mudslides. However, many experts warn that the frequency and extent of such natural disasters are increasing as a result of global climate change.

In view of the recent natural disasters, there is increasing pressure on Erdogan to do more to reduce climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions. Turkey is one of the few countries that have not ratified the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.