ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkish officials said Monday that a missing fighter jet crashed and its fuselage and debris have been found in a mountainous area close to the border with Syria.

Celalettin Cerrah, the governor for Osmaniye province, said that rescue teams were still searching for its pilot who radioed that he was ejecting before contact was lost.

The military said earlier it had lost contact with the F-16 jet over Osmaniye, which lies some 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border with Syria. 

Private NTV television, citing unnamed military sources, said the crash was most likely accidental.

In June, Syrian forces show down a Turkish military reconnaissance plane, escalating tensions between the two neighbors.