Turkey believes Russian pilots still alive, seeking their release - govt official

A war plane crashing in flames in a mountainous area in northern Syria after it was shot down by Turkish fighter jets near the Turkish-Syrian border, is seen in this still image taken from video November 24, 2015. REUTERS/Reuters TV/Haberturk

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey believes the two pilots from a Russian war plane it shot down close to the Syrian border on Tuesday are still alive and is working to secure their release from Syrian rebels, a Turkish government official told Reuters. "Our units, who received the information that the two pilots were alive, are working to get them from opposition rebels safely," the official said. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by David Dolan)