ANKARA – Four Turkish soldiers were killed on Monday when a militaryhelicopter crashed in a residential area of Istanbul, the province’sgovernor said.

The army helicopter crashed around 11am (0800 GMT) during a trainingflight, the governorate said in a statement, adding that one militarypersonnel was injured.

The governor’s office said “there was no information to indicate that anycivilian was injured” after the accident in Sancaktepe district on theprovince’s Asian side.

The helicopter hit a four-storey building, state news agency *Anadolu*reported,with images published showing the destroyed helicopter close to residentialapartments.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was at the scene and told reportersthat the injured soldier was in intensive care.

“Our heroic pilots tried to make an emergency landing for a reason we donot yet know and as you can see, they showed great effort to ensure theydid so without hurting anyone,” Akar told reporters, quoted by *CNN Turk*broadcaster.

The Istanbul public prosecutor launched an investigation into the crash,*Anadolu*said. – APP / AFP