ISTANBUL: A Turkish firefighting plane crashed in Croatia on Thursday, killing the pilot, Turkiye’s forestry minister said, two days after another deadly crash involving a Turkish military plane that killed 20.
The accident occurred as two Turkish firefighting planes were trying to return home but lost contact with air traffic control, with one managing to land at a Croatian airport while the other crashed, Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli wrote on X.
“The wreckage of our firefighting aircraft... has been found near the Croatian town of Senj,” he wrote, referring to a town on the western coast, offering condolences to the family of “our pilot who was killed in this tragic accident.”
Earlier, in a post on X, the ministry said two AT802 firefighting planes left Turkiye on Wednesday morning for maintenance activities in Zagreb but bad weather forced them to stay overnight at Rijeka airport in the west.
They took off for Zagreb airport at 5.38 p.m. (1638 GMT) on Thursday but were forced back, it said.
“As they turned back, one of our aircraft landed at Rijeka airport, but radio contact with the other aircraft was lost at 6:25 pm,” it said, indicating search and rescue operations were under way.
The incident came just hours after Turkiye repatriated the bodies of 20 military personnel who were killed on Tuesday when a Turkish military cargo plane crashed in Georgia as it was returning from Azerbaijan.
Turkish investigators are looking into the cause, suspending all flights by its C-130 cargo planes as a precautionary measure.
Turkish firefighting plane crashes in Croatia, pilot killed: ministry
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Turkish firefighting plane crashes in Croatia, pilot killed: ministry
- Two Turkish firefighting planes were trying to return home but lost contact with air traffic control
UN chief calls Ukraine war ‘a stain on our collective conscience’
- Guterres warned that the fighting posed direct risks to the safe and secure operation of Ukraine’s nuclear sites
WASHINGTON: Four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the war there remained “as a stain on our collective conscience” and reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire. In remarks for a session of the United Nations Security Council to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Guterres commended the efforts of the United States and others to end the war, but said concrete measures were needed to de-escalate and create space for diplomacy.
Referring to Russia’s invasion, Guterres said: “We have witnessed the cascading consequences of this blatant violation of international law.”
He said more than 15,000 civilians had been killed in Ukraine since the start of the war and over 41,000 hurt. Among those killed or hurt were 3,200 children.
Guterres’ remarks were read on his behalf by Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN under-secretary-general for peacebuilding.
Guterres warned that the fighting posed direct risks to the safe and secure operation of Ukraine’s nuclear sites, and added: “This unconscionable game of nuclear roulette must cease immediately.”
He urged UN member states to fully fund humanitarian assistance and said that any settlement to the war must uphold the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
“Enough with the death. Enough with the destruction. Enough with the broken lives and shattered futures,” he added.
“It is time for an immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire – the first step toward a just peace that saves lives and ends the endless suffering.
