Ankara: All 20 personnel aboard a Turkish military cargo plane were killed after it crashed in Georgia’s Sighnaghi municipality near the Azerbaijani border, Turkey’s Defense Minister confirmed on Wednesday. The C-130 aircraft was en route from Ganja, Azerbaijan to Turkey when the tragedy occurred on Tuesday.

The military personnel had been in Azerbaijan to participate in the country’s Victory Day celebrations, marking its 2020 military success over Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the aircraft’s flight data recorder had been recovered, and an investigation into the cause of the crash is underway.

A 46-member Turkish accident investigation team has arrived at the crash site to work with Georgian authorities. Erdogan stated that the remains of 19 victims have been recovered so far, with search efforts continuing for the last missing crew member.