The helicopter team consisted of three Kyrgyz nationals and one Turk. (Representative)
Istanbul, Turkey:
Turkish divers searched Sunday for three firefighters who went missing when their helicopter crashed into a water reservoir near the western resort of Izmir.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said the helicopter crashed on Saturday evening while collecting water to extinguish a forest fire.
The helicopter team consisted of three Kyrgyz nationals and one Turk. One of the Kyrgyz nationals was rescued and taken to hospital in good condition.
“The divers have identified the wreck,” Yumakli said in a televised address.
“They can’t see anything clearly at the moment because the visibility is very low.”
Global warming, caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions, is changing weather patterns and contributing to a years-long drought in parts of Turkey.
Turkey has diverted resources to its emergency response efforts after being gripped by devastating fires in 2021 that killed nine people and increased political pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan responded by pushing through Turkey’s delayed ratification of the Paris climate accords and investing in new firefighting planes and helicopters.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
