Four soldiers killed in helicopter crash in Istanbul: city governor

ANKARA: Four soldiers were killed when a military helicopter crashed in a residential neighborhood on the Asian side of Istanbul on Monday, the governor of Turkey’s biggest city said.

The helicopter went down in an area of apartment buildings, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said. Television images showed smoke rising from the area and ambulances rushing to the scene.

There were no civilian injuries or casualties, Yerlikaya told reporters, adding that the cause of the crash was not yet known.

Earlier, four Turkish soldiers had been killed and another wounded, in November 2018, when a military helicopter crashed in a residential area in Istanbul during a training exercise, officials had said.

The helicopter went down in the Sancaktepe district of Istanbul, on the eastern edge of the city’s Asian side, in an area of apartment buildings. It had been carrying out a training exercise at the nearby Samandira air base, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya told the state-owned Anadolu news agency.

The cause of the crash had not yet been determined, he said. Rescue workers sorted through the debris where the helicopter lay on its side on the street. A large chunk of the tail rested on the other side of the road.