Qatar on Sunday said at least six people on board a military helicopter have been killed and one is missing after a crash.
The Defence Ministry said a 'technical malfunction' is the reason behind the crash. Efforts are underway to find another missing person, said Qatar’s Ministry of Interior.
Earlier on Sunday, Qatar’s Ministry of Defence posted on X that the helicopter had a technical malfunction during a “routine duty”, which led to its crash in the territorial waters of the country, reported Al Jazeera.
The deceased were identified as pilot Captain Mubarak Salem Daway al-Marri, Sergeant Fahad Hadi Ghanem al-Khayarin, Corporal Mohammed Maher Mohammed (all three from Qatar Armed Forces); Major Sinan Tastekin (Qatar-Turkiye Joint Forces); as well as Turkish civilian collaborators Suleiman Cemra Kahraman and Ismail Anas Can, said the Defence Ministry.
There is no information on the cause of the incident except that it was a result of technical malfunction.
The search operation for another pilot, Captain Saeed Nasser Samekh from the Qatar Armed Forces, is still in progress, said the ministry’s statement.