A Be-200 plane that crashed in Turkey was carrying five Russian servicemen and three citizens of Turkey, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"The plane was carrying five Russian servicemen and three representatives of the Turkish Republic tasked with showing wildfire spots to the crew. A commission of the Russian Defense Ministry has been sent to the crash scene to conduct an investigation," the ministry said.

"A Russian Be-200 plane crashed while landing at about 3:10 p.m. Moscow time on August 14, 2021, upon the fulfillment of a firefighting mission in the area of Adana in the Turkish Republic," the ministry said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in July that a Be-200 amphibious plane had been deployed to Turkey to help fight wildfires. The ministry said it was a Be-200 from the Russian Navy's marine aviation.

Be-200 is a multirole amphibious plane designed to fight fires, to provide emergency assistance in calamity areas, to conduct search and rescue operations on waters, to carry out medical and cargo transportation, and to participate in environmental monitoring.

Be-200ChS can carry up to 12 tonnes of water. Its tanks are filled within 14 seconds while planing on water at a speed of 150-190 kilometers per hour. The plane is capable of dropping up to 270 tonnes of water on a fire on one tank of fuel.

As Interfax reported earlier, two Russian Be-200ChS planes helped put out wildfires in Turkey in 2020 at the request of the Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Ministry - the crews assisted in the extinguishing of large fires at strategic and complex sites in the vicinity of Antalya, Izmir, and Bodrum.