Bodies of Russian officers sent back home with ceremony

ADANA

The bodies of five crew members of Russian nationality, who lost their lives in a plane crash during an aerial firefighting operation in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş, were delivered to their countries with a ceremony on Aug. 16.

After the completion of their autopsies at Adana Forensic Medicine Institute, the flag-draped coffins of Russian crew members were received by the local authorities and taken to the Adana Şakirpaşa Airport.

While a ceremony was held before the flight with the participation of authorities and Turkish and Russian military delegations to send the bodies to Moscow, a minute of silence was observed for those who lost their lives in the crash.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy General Director of Forestry Mustafa Özkaya expressed his condolences to the Turkish and Russian nations, especially to the families of those who lost their lives.

A firefighting plane that was battling a forest fire in a mountainous area in Kahramanmaraş crashed on Aug. 14.

Besides the Russian crew members of the Be-200 aircraft that belonged to the Russian navy, three Turkish officers who were pointing out fire locations were also killed in the crash.

Meanwhile, a Russian team visited the crash site to investigate the reason for the accident on Aug. 15.

The cause of the accident is not yet known, but the first report to be prepared by the crash teams is expected to emerge in the coming months.