Eight people have been killed after a Russian firefighting aircraft helping tackle wildfires in Turkey crashed on Saturday.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the Beriev Be-200 amphibious plane went down at about 1.30pm GMT with eight people on board.
The water drop aircraft crashed in southern province Kahramanmaras.
“Five crew members from Russian military personnel and three citizens of Turkey who were spotting fire centres were killed,” the ministry said.
Another military aircraft and a helicopter were sent to the crash scene to help with the search operation, Turkey's defence ministry said.
The aircraft had taken off from Adana in southern Turkey to help extinguish fires burning in Kahramanmaras.
The Russian military sent the Be-200, part of the Russian Naval Aviation, to Turkey last month, where its crew was helping Turkey fight wildfires raging through southern coastal regions.
In recent days, Turkey has been gaining control over the hundreds of wildfires that killed eight people and destroyed swathes of forest along the scenic southern coast.
Heavy rainfall has helped firefighting efforts in Turkey's Mediterranean and Aegean provinces, after the fires ravaged tens of thousands of hectares for almost two weeks.
Turkey's official disaster agency AFAD is also dealing with flash floods in its northern Black Sea regions.
Teams combed through the rubble of dozens of homes that collapsed in the village of Babacay in Sinop province, where 40 houses and two bridges were completely destroyed by the floods.
The latest official death toll, published by AFAD on Saturday, stood at 44, with nine other people in hospital.
In both areas, the clean-up from the floods and the fires has barely started.
Greece, which also suffered wildfires in the searing summer heat, also had most of its blazes under control by Friday.
But national fire experts warned high winds could bring new problems in the coming days.
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was first created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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