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A military helicopter has crashed in a residential area of Istanbul while trying to make an emergency landing, killing four soldiers on board, Turkish officials said.
The UH-1 helicopter crashed in the grounds of a housing complex in the Cekmekoy district on Istanbul’s Asian side, governor Ali Yerlikaya told reporters at the site.
No one on the ground was hurt.
It was the second UH-1 crash in a residential area in Istanbul in the past three months.
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In November, a military helicopter with five soldiers on board crashed during a training mission after hitting the roof of a building in the Sancaktepe neighbourhood, also on Istanbul’s Asian side.
The four soldiers in Monday’s crash were taken to hospital but Mr Yerlikaya later told reporters they did not survive.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The military said it had launched an investigation.
Television images showed emergency services working near the wreckage close to children’s swings on a playground and thick smoke rising from the ground. – AP