Turkish scuba divers searched Sunday for three firefighters who wentmissing when their helicopter crashed into a water reservoir near thewestern resort city of Izmir.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said the helicoptercrashed while picking up water to douse a forest fire on Saturday night.
The helicopter team included three Kyrgyz nationals and one Turk. One ofthe Kyrgyz nationals was rescued and rushed to hospital in goodcondition.“The divers have identified the wreckage,” Yumakli said intelevised remarks.
“They cannot see anything clearly right now because the visibility is verylow.”Global warming caused by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions ischanging weather patterns and contributing to a years-long drought acrossswathes of Turkey.
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Turkey has funnelled resources into its emergency response efforts afterbeing gripped by devastating fires in 2021 that killed nine people andheaped political pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Erdoganresponded by pushing through Turkey’s delayed ratification of the ParisClimate Accords and investing in new firefighting planes and helicopters.-APP/AFP
