Helicopter with business executives crashes in Istanbul, kills five

[March 10, 2017]  By Tuvan Gumrukcu

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A helicopter carrying an executive of the Turkish Eczabicasi group and four Russians, including the firm's Russian operations chief, crashed in Istanbul on Friday, killing five of the seven people on board, the company's chairman said.

The helicopter crashed onto a highway shortly after take-off from Istanbul's main Ataturk airport. Early media reports suggested it had hit a television tower but the district governor told reporters he was unable to confirm this.

Bulent Eczacibasi, chairman of the company with interests in pharmaceuticals and home products, did not specify who among the five passengers and two crew had been killed; nor did officials give any details of the two who survived.

"We have no information on the details, the cause of the crash will become evident after the evaluations," Eczacibsi said in a statement.

The road where the helicopter crashed was largely deserted at the time and no-one on the ground was hurt. The highway was closed off to traffic following the crash.

Wreckage of a helicopter is seen after it crashed in Istanbul, Turkey, March 10, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Eczacibasi later released a statement in which it named the seven people on board the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter. It said the helicopter carried one Turkish executive and one Russian administrator from the company, three Russians and two Turkish pilots.

(Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay in Ankara and Ebru Tuncay in Istanbul; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

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