Camera drone falls on crowd during Erdogan speech, several injured (PHOTO,VIDEO)
Eleven people were injured after a drone fell onto a crowd attending Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s speech marking the one-year anniversary of the failed coup attempt that challenged his administration.
Erdogan stopped his speech following the crash, calling on paramedics to help people in the crowd before resuming his address, according to Turkish journalist Engin Bas, who was at the event.
Just talked with the emergency officials. Confirmed 11 slightly injured
— Engin Bas (@enginbas) July 16, 2017
TBMM'deki 15 Temmuz anma töreninde Cumhurbaşkanı @RT_Erdogan’ın konuşma yaptığı sırada kalabalığın üzerine drone düştü, 6 kişi yaralandı. pic.twitter.com/9G00Pzr0x4
— Az Önce Oldu (@azonceoldu) July 16, 2017
READ MORE: Turkey commemorates ‘epic victory’ over coup attempt with massive rally (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
Several bloodied people were filmed being carried from the event on stretchers.
Two people were hospitalized for their injuries, and five others were treated on-site, Hurriyet reports.
Drone camera has fallen to ppl while Erdogan speaking in commemoration of the coup attempt in Turkish parliament.Count 6 injured slightly pic.twitter.com/qXMRFEGmwV
— Engin Bas (@enginbas) July 16, 2017
Erdoğan speech briefly interrupted when TV drone apparently fell from sky. Just saw 6 or 7 people led away by medics.
— Laura Pitel (@laurapitel) July 16, 2017
Tens of thousands gathered outside the parliament in Istanbul for Sunday’s event, and to commemorate the 250 people who died during last year’s botched coup attempt which triggered a massive opposition crackdown across Turkey.
Over 50,000 people have been arrested and more than 150,000 civil servants, police officers, and soldiers dismissed for their alleged links to the failed coup.