The Qatari and Turkish defence ministries on Sunday said the helicopter crashed after suffering a technical malfunction, which the Qatari ministry said happened during a “routine duty”.
of those killed were Qatari armed forces personnel, one was from the Qatar-Turkey joint forces and two were technicians, the Turkish and Qatari defence ministries said.
According to Qatar’s Defence Ministry, the deceased were identified as pilot Captain Mubarak Salem Daway al-Marri, Sergeant Fahad Hadi Ghanem al-Khayarin, Corporal Mohammed Maher Mohammed and Captain Saeed Nasser Samekh (all from Qatar Armed Forces); Major Sinan Tastekin (Qatar-Turkiye Joint Forces), and Turkish civilian collaborators Suleiman Cemra Kahraman and Ismail Anas Can.
The ministry extended “its sincere condolences” to the families of the victims.
The Turkish Ministry of National Defence also said in a statement that one of its soldiers and two personnel from Turkish defence firm Aselsan were killed in the helicopter crash, adding the aircraft had crashed due to a technical issue during a training flight.
The statement added that Qatari authorities would carry out inspections to determine the exact cause of the crash.
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.
