The fire-fighting helicopter affiliated to the Kastamonu Regional Directorate of Forestry, which was assigned to respond to the forest fire in Muğla's Marmaris district, crashed near Gemiş District of Denizli's Çardak district at around 16.10. According to the first determinations, 2 of the 7 personnel in the Russian-made fire surveillance helicopter lost their lives and 5 people were injured. It was determined that those who lost their lives in the accident were Russian engineer Aleksandr Iakovlev and technician Alexey Volkov. Russian citizen captain pilot İlya Ivesenkhio, 2nd pilot Egor Turkov and technician Georgii Onuchin, and Turkish citizen pilot Ömer Kaan Çakır and the representative of the General Directorate of Forestry Kenan Erdem, who survived the accident with injuries, were transferred to hospitals in the region by ambulances.
“The helicopter hit the road first”
Can Bozbay, who was working with a construction machine at the salt collection site at the time of the accident, described the events as follows:
“Helicopters were coming and going in the morning. I was working on the construction machine, collecting salt. It was coming fast at that time, hit the road and went from lying on its side. I came down from the work machine. 4 people were lying on the floor. 1 person was caught under the helicopter, I asked if they were Turkish. They said they were 5 Russians, 2 Turks.”
Mehdi Koç, who was one of the first to come to the aid of the injured, said, "Our friend, who works in Acıgöl, saw the incident and reported it. When we arrived at the scene, we found that 2 people were dead. Five injured people were being treated. We learned that the helicopter went from Kastamonu to support the fire in Marmaris. Citizens and all units of the state rushed to the aid of the injured.”
