Two Turkish military pilots in training died on Tuesday in a plane crash in Kayseri, central Turkey, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.
Taking off from the Kayseri military base for a training flight, the SF-260D aircraft crashed for unknown reasons, the department added, citing the French agency AFP.
The first images broadcast by Turkish media showed flames and black smoke emerging from the wreckage of the half-burnt plane.
The plane crashed into an agricultural field.
According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, the Kayseri prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the incident.
“I express my condolences to the families of our martyrs, our heroic army and our people,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on social media.
Firefighters, rescue workers and police were dispatched to the scene, according to images provided by the Turkish news agency.
A local resident told Anadolu that while at home, he heard a loud noise and saw black smoke.
Another resident said a training plane had been flying in the area for two days and that he heard a loud noise after the plane flew over his home on Tuesday.
“When we were leaving, we saw that the plane crashed in a field,” he added to Turkish news agency reporters.