By Faruk Zorlu
ANKARA (AA) - Nine soldiers were martyred and four others injured when a military helicopter crashed Thursday in eastern Turkey, according to the country's National Defense Ministry.
"As a result of the tragic accident, our nine heroic fellow soldiers in the helicopter were martyred and four others were injured," the ministry said in a statement.
The contact with the Cougar-type military helicopter, which took off from the eastern province of Bingol to Tatvan district at 1.55 p.m.[1055GMT], was cut off at 2.25 p.m. [1125GMT].
"The efforts are underway for the transfer of our injured personnel to the hospital," it said.