Helicopter crashes into Turkish hospital, four fatalities
"The helicopter fell to the ground after having struck the fourth storey of a hospital during take-off," killing two pilots, a doctor, and an employee on board the vehicle, Mugla provincial governor Idris Akbiyik explained.
Dec. 22, 2024
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – On Sunday, a helicopter crashed into a hospital in southwestern Turkey, killing four people.
The provincial governor said that the main cause behind the accident was the thick fog that had covered the area.
"The helicopter fell to the ground after having struck the fourth storey of a hospital during take-off," killing two pilots, a doctor, and an employee on board the vehicle, Mugla provincial governor Idris Akbiyik explained.
"There was intense fog," Akbiyik stated, adding that the authorities also intend to further investigate the accident's cause.
The helicopter took off during poor visibility from the roof of the city of Mugla's hospital on the way to the city of Antalya, as seen in images broadcast by the NTV television channel.
The Turkish media reported that the helicopter was seen drifting in the fog for some time after its take-off, before crashing into a vacant field next to the hospital it hit.
The incident comes just under two weeks after six soldiers lost their lives when two helicopters crashed into each other during an army training exercise in Turkey's southwestern Isparta province.
Read More: Turkish military helicopter crash claims lives of 6
At the time the defence ministry did not detail what triggered that crash.