An urgent search is underway for missing crew members after a Nato military plane was seen spiralling out of control before plummeting to the ground.
The ill-fated aircraft is believed to have been a Lockheed C-130 Hercules belonging to alliance member Turkey.
The crash occurred in the Rustavi region of Georgia, just 100 miles from the Russian border, on Tuesday.
Footage of the incident showed plumes of smoke being emitted from the plane as it spun out of control.
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Authorities are yet to establish the cause of the horror smash.
Early reports indicated that it was a helicopter that had gone down - however this was later corrected to being a C-130.
This type of plane is one of the world's longest-serving military transport aircraft and is one of the most widely used across the globe.
A Turkish Ministry of National Defence spokesman said: “A C-130 cargo plane taking off from Azerbaijan to our country crashed in Georgia.
Footage of the incident showed plumes of smoke coming from the plane as it spun out of control
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More social media footage showed the spiral left in the air as the C-130 fell from the sky
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“Search and rescue efforts have been initiated in coordination with Georgian authorities.”
Georgia’s Rustavi region lies just miles from the country’s border with Azerbaijan.
The exact number of personnel on board has not been confirmed, though it is feared that at least 20 members of the Turkish and Azeri armed forces were involved in the crash.
It also remains unclear what military supplies the cargo plane was carrying at the time.
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PICTURED: Fire and smoke billows from the C-130 crash site in Georgia
|REUTERS
Parts of the destroyed C-130 were discovered strewn across the Georgian terrain
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Parts of the destroyed C-130 were discovered strewn across the Georgian terrain.
The video also captured a large explosion as it the plane hit the ground, with a dark plume of smoke billowing from the wreckage.
Though there was no immediate evidence as to what caused the accident, one pro-Russian social media account claimed it was "likely due to an internal explosion".
In Georgia, a criminal investigation into the incident has been opened.
President Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences to 'our martyrs'
| REUTERSThe Georgian Government released a statement shortly after the crash, which read: “The Ministry of Internal Affairs will provide the public with detailed information about the incident in stages."
During a speech in the Turkish capital of Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences to "our martyrs".
He said: "God willing, we will overcome this crash with minimum hardships."
The US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, said he was "deeply saddened by today's tragic crash of a Turkish Armed Forces aircraft".
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