ANKARA (Reuters) -A Turkish C-130 military cargo plane with at least 20 personnel on board crashed in Georgia on Tuesday after taking off from Azerbaijan but the number of casualties and the cause of the incident were not immediately clear.
Initial video from the scene near the Azerbaijan border showed chunks of twisted metal strewn across a grassy knoll, with parts of the fuselage still ablaze and dark smoke rising into a clear sky.
Footage circulating on social media appeared to show the plane corkscrewing towards the earth and then bursting into flames. Reuters could not immediately verify that footage.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan interrupted a speech in Ankara to offer condolences for "our martyrs" - a term he regularly uses to describe not only combat deaths but also service personnel killed in the course of their general duties.
Erdogan, his office and the ministry did not say what caused the crash, and they did not provide a death toll. Local media said there were both Turkish and Azeri personnel on board the U.S.-made aircraft but gave no numbers.
The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, said on X that he was "deeply saddened by today's tragic crash of a Turkish Armed Forces aircraft," extending condolences to the families of the fallen and saying the United States "stands in solidarity with our Turkish allies".
'LOSS OF SERVICEMEN'
After a call with Erdogan, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said, according to an official readout, that he had discussed "the tragic news of the loss of servicemen" in the crash.
Turkey's Defence Ministry said 20 Turkish personnel were on board, including the flight crew, but provided no additional details on possible passengers of other nationalities.
Turkey and Georgia said they were working to reach the site in the Sighnaghi municipality of Kakheti, a border region of floodplain forests and rolling hills.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said his Georgian counterpart, Gela Geladze, had reached the wreckage of the Turkish C-130 aircraft around 5 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) and that search and rescue operations were continuing.
Earlier, Erdogan had been handed a note by his aides as he was finishing his speech in Ankara.
"God willing, we will overcome this crash with minimum hardships. May God rest the soul of our martyrs, and let us be with them through our prayers," he said.
Georgia's Interpress news agency cited the country's Interior Ministry as saying the incident was being investigated under a criminal code article covering air transport and the loss of life.
Azerbaijan, a close ally of NATO member Turkey, said the plane had taken off from the city of Ganja.
LOCKHEED MARTIN'S CARGO, TROOP, EQUIPMENT CARRIER
U.S. firm Lockheed Martin, which makes the C-130 Hercules that is widely used by air forces around the world, expressed its condolences to those affected by the crash and to Turkey's Air Force and citizens.
"We are committed to supporting our customer in any way as they investigate," said company spokesperson Chris Karns.
The C-130 Hercules is a cargo, troop and equipment carrier aircraft. It is described as a four-engine, turboprop military transport aircraft that can make use of unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings.
Its versatile airframe has enabled it to be used for other purposes as well, including as a gunship and for airborne assault and reconnaissance operations. It is now viewed as one of the main tactical airlifters for many militaries.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay in Ankara, Omer Berberoglu in Istanbul, Lucy Papachristou, Adam Jourdan and Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Gareth Jones)
