A Mi-8 helicopter with 13 tourists and three crew members on board has crash landed in Kamchatka, the helicopter of the Disaster Medicine Center is heading to the crash site of a tourist helicopter, the press service of the Emergencies Ministry (EMERCOM) in Kamchatka reported on Thursday.
Nine people survived the crash of an Mi-8 helicopter in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka, reported Tass news agency citing acting Health Minister of the region Marina Volkova.
A helicopter carrying tourists crashed into a volcanic lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far east Thursday, and rescuers were searching in the lake for up to eight people still missing, officials said. At least eight others reportedly survived.
The helicopter, manufactured during the Soviet era 37 years ago, was operated by Vityaz-Aero, a local private carrier.
The Mi-8 is a two-engine helicopter designed in the 1960s. It has been used widely in Russia, ex-Soviet countries and many other nations.
The helicopter went down in the Kronotsky nature reserve, and the regional administration said workers were searching for survivors in Kuril Lake, which was formed in a volcano caldera and crater.
“At 00:50 Moscow time on August 12, 2021, information was received about a crash landing of the Mi-8 helicopter of the Vityaz-Aero company in the area of the Kuril Lake of the Kronotsky Reserve. According to preliminary information, there are three crew members and 13 passengers on board. A helicopter of the Disaster Medicine Center has departed to the scene, and a Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Emergencies Ministry with rescuers is put on alert,” the press service told reporters.
According to the press service of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, the helicopter belongs to the Vityaz-Aero company.
“Presumably, the helicopter belongs to the Vityaz-Aero airline, there were 13 tourists and 3 crew members on board. Aircraft of this airline is about to take off from the airport in the village of Nikolaevka to clarify the details of what happened,” the press service of the reserve said. The Vityaz-Aero airline has been operating since 2009, its fleet consists of more than 20 Mi-8 helicopters of the MTV, AMT, T and PS and Mi-2 modifications. It operates flights to remote areas of Kamchatka, including passenger transportation
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