One Turkish soldier and two personnel from Turkish defense firm Aselsan were killed in a helicopter crash in Qatar on Saturday, the Turkish Defense Ministry confirmed Sunday, adding the aircraft had crashed due to a technical issue during a training flight.
In a statement, the ministry said four Qatari troops were also killed in the accident. It added that the Qatari authorities would carry out inspections to determine the exact cause of the crash.
Qatar’s Interior Ministry said Sunday that the bodies of six people out of the seven reported missing after the crash in the country’s territorial waters have been found.
A ministry statement said that ongoing search and rescue operations led to the recovery of six individuals who had been aboard the aircraft, confirming their deaths.
Authorities said specialized teams are continuing intensive efforts to locate the remaining missing person.
The ministry had not provided further details on the cause of the crash or the identities of those on board.
Earlier Sunday, Qatar's Defense Ministry said a helicopter suffered a "technical malfunction" during a routine mission and crashed in the country's regional waters.
No immediate information was available on the cause beyond the technical malfunction and there was no indication that the crash was the result of hostile action.
The incident occurred amid heightened regional tensions. Qatar has faced repeated Iranian drone and missile strikes since the start of U.S.-Israeli joint attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, with the country's Ras Laffan Industrial City, one of the world's largest LNG production hubs, struck multiple times.
