Crash deepens disaster-hit Turkey's woes

ISTANBUL－Turkey battled disaster on two fronts on Saturday with eight people dying when a firefighting aircraft crashed and rescuers racing to find survivors of flash floods in the north that have killed at least 58.

Ankara and Moscow announced that all eight people on the Russian plane had died on the firefighting mission.

The air crash came just as Turkey was gaining control of hundreds of wildfires that had killed eight people and destroyed swathes of forest along the scenic southern coast.

Scientists believe such natural disasters are becoming more intense and frequent because of global warming caused by polluting emissions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent condolences to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying "the pain of this loss unites us".

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu added: "Condolences to our nation and to the Russian people. This heroic sacrifice will not be forgotten."

In Moscow, the defense ministry said five Russian servicemen and three Turks were on board the Russian Be-200 plane.

Television footage showed a column of smoke rising from the remote mountainous zone in Turkey's south.

Turkey's defense ministry issued a statement saying the aircraft on loan from Russia had taken off from Adana to help extinguish fires burning in Kahramanmaras Province.

A surveillance plane and a helicopter had been dispatched to the crash site, the ministry said.

Russian consular representatives and a defense ministry official were reportedly on their way to the area.

On the floods front, the government disaster agency AFAD said teams were combing through the rubble of dozens of homes that collapsed due to the floods that hit Black Sea regions on Wednesday after heavy rains.

In the village of Babacay in the northern province of Sinop, 40 houses and two bridges were destroyed by the floods, according to the state news agency Anadolu.

The latest death toll published on Saturday by the disaster agency stood at 58, and nine people were said to be in hospital.

Agencies Via Xinhua