Turkey: Eight die in Russian water-bomber plane crash
Russia on Saturday said all eight people on board a Russian water-dropping plane died when it crashed in Turkey during a firefighting mission.
Moscow's defence ministry said five Russian servicemen and three Turkish nationals were killed in the crash, news agencies reported.
The Russian defence ministry earlier said the Be-200 plane went down around 1330 GMT with eight crew onboard.
The plane crashed near the southern Turkish city of Adana, it said.
Russian consular representatives and a defence ministry commission were on their way to the crash site.
In July, Russia said it would send Be-200 planes to Turkey to help it fight spreading wildfires.
Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported that rescuers had rushed to the scene with television footage showing a column of smoke rising from a mountainous zone.
Floods and fires
Flash floods have submerged parts of northern Turkey this week. On Saturday, the death toll, which is still rising, was at least 55.
The devastation across the Black Sea region came just as the disaster-hit country was taking control of hundreds of wildfires that killed eight people and destroyed swathes of forest along its scenic southern coast.
This week, a UN panel said that global warming is dangerously close to spiralling out of control, and that extreme weather would become more severe.
World scientists believe that natural disasters like those in Turkey are becoming more intense and frequent because of global warming and climate change.
They also pose a serious challenge to Erdogan, two years before Turkey's next scheduled general election.
The powerful Turkish leader was roundly condemned on social media for tossing out bags of tea to locals while visiting one fire-ravaged region when the wildfires were first spreading at the end of July.
Polls show that the climate is a top priority for up to seven million members of Generation Z, whose votes Erdogan will need if he is to extend his rule into a third decade in the 2023 election.
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