Turkish military helicopter crashes in Istanbul, kills four soldiers

A Turkish military helicopter with five soldiers on board crashed in an Istanbul neighbourhood on Monday, killing four of them, officials said. The fifth soldier was rushed to a hospital with injuries.

The Turkish army helicopter crashed around 11am local time (0800 GMT) during a training flight, the governorate said in a statement.

The governor's office said "there was no information to indicate that any civilian was injured" after the accident in Sancaktepe district on the Asian side of the Turkish metropolis.

The helicopter hit a four-storey building,



state news agency Anadolu reported, with images published showing the destroyed helicopter close to residential apartments.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was at the scene and told reporters that the injured soldier was in intensive care.

"Our heroic pilots tried to make an emergency landing for a reason we do not yet know and as you can see, they showed great effort to ensure they did so without hurting anyone," Akar told reporters, quoted by CNN Turk broadcaster.

The Istanbul public prosecutor launched an investigation into the crash, Anadolu said.