ANKARA, Dec 22, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Four people died when a helicopter crashed 
into a hospital in southwestern Turkey on Sunday, the provincial governor 
said, blaming the accident on thick fog.

"The helicopter fell to the ground after having struck the fourth storey of a 
hospital during take-off," killing two pilots, a doctor and an employee on 
board the vehicle, Mugla provincial governor Idris Akbiyik said.

"There was intense fog," Akbiyik said, adding that the authorities were 
investigating the accident's cause.

The helicopter took off in conditions with poor visibility from the roof of 
the city of Mugla's hospital en route to the city of Antalya, as seen in 
images broadcast by the NTV television channel.

The chopper can then be seen drifting in the fog several minutes after take-
off, before crashing into an empty field next to the hospital it hit, Turkish 
media reported.

The accident comes just under two weeks after six soldiers were killed when 
two helicopters collided during an army training exercise in Turkey's 
southwestern Isparta province.

At the time the defence ministry did not specify what caused that crash.