A Turkiye C-130 military cargo plane carrying at least 20 personnel reportedly crashed in Georgia after taking off from Azerbaijan, yesterday.
However, the exact number of casualties and the cause of the incident have not yet been confirmed.
Initial video from the scene near the Azerbaijani border showed metal fragments scattered on a grassy slope, with parts of the fuselage still burning and black smoke rising into the clear sky.
Footage that went viral on social media showed the plane spinning towards the ground before burning.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stopped his speech in Ankara to offer his condolences to the personnel involved in the tragic incident.
The Turkish Defense Ministry also announced that there were 20 Turkiye personnel on board the plane, including the flight crew, but did not provide additional details about possible other national passengers.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said his Georgian counterpart Gela Geladze reported that authorities had found the wreckage of the Turkiye C-130 plane at around 5pm local time (1400 GMT) yesterday and that search and rescue operations were continuing.
According to the Azerbaijani side, the plane had taken off from the city of Ganja heading to Turkiye before it crashed.
The Georgian Interpress news agency reported that the Georgian Interior Ministry would investigate the incident in accordance with the provisions of the criminal law on air transport.
