Eight people were killed when a Russian firefighting Be-200 plane crashed in Turkey on Saturday, the Russian defence ministry was cited by Interfax news agency as saying.
The Russian military said last month a Be-200, part of the Russian naval air forces, had been sent to help Turkey fight wildfires raging through southern coastal regions.
Turkey has been fighting the fires for the past two weeks, with most of them now brought under control.
"Five crew members from Russian military personnel and three citizens of Turkey who were spotting fire centres were killed," the ministry said.
The Turkish defence ministry said another military plane and a helicopter were dispatched to the scene to help with the search operation.
Contact was lost with the plane which had been rented from Russia to help in Turkey's effort to contain a forest fire in Kahramanmaraş, Governor Ömer Faruk Coşkun told Anadolu Agency.
A large number of search and rescue teams were dispatched to the region, added Coşkun.
Private news agency DHA said the plane crashed as it was fighting a fire in a forest around the Bertiz region. It said the cause of the crash had not yet been identified.
