Tourist Helicopter with 16 people on board crashes in Russia’s Kamchatka
There were eight known survivors, Russian media quoted emergencies ministry officials as saying. Thirteen tourists, including a child and three crew, were on board when the Mi-8 crashed and sank in the Kuril Lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Emergencies ministry rescuers and divers have been sent to the area to search for those still unaccounted for.
The helicopter belonging to the Vityaz-Aero company is reportedly lying at a depth of 100 metres (330 feet) in the lake. According to preliminary information, the emergencies ministry said the aircraft was en route from the village of Nikolayevka to the Kuril Lake and the Khodutka volcano when it crashed. The Mi-8 - a medium twin-turbine helicopter was carrying tourists from Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia's news agency reported.
The mountainous Kamchatka peninsula more than 6,000 km (3,730 miles) east of Moscow is popular among tourists.“Nine people have been found; they are all alive,” the source told, adding that the search operation was continuing. The fate of the remaining seven was not immediately known. An investigation has been opened to violate air safety rules, said the Russian Investigation Committee, which handles air accident probes.
Meanwhile, the Interfax news agency cited officials saying the helicopter was carrying three crew members and 14 tourists when it went down in the deep fog. Interfax initially quoted regional officials saying that nine people, including two pilots, survived the crash but later reported that only eight survivors were found while searching for the others continues.
The varying numbers could not be immediately reconciled. The reports did not list the nationalities of the tourists but said that most of them were from Moscow and St Petersburg. The area where the crash occurred can only be reached by helicopters, and the fog was complicating rescue efforts, the RIA Novosti reported. The Vityaz-Aero helicopter was transporting the tourists to Khodutka, a volcano near the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Russian news reports said Vityaz-Aero is half-owned by Igor Redkin, a millionaire businessman who is a member of the Kamchatka regional legislature. Redkin was placed under house arrest earlier this week after he shot and killed a man who was rummaging in a garbage bin. Redkin said the shooting was accidental after he mistook the victim for a bear.
Kamchatka is a large territory with few inhabitants but is visited by tourists for its volcanoes and scenery. In July, all 28 people on board of Antonov An-26 twin-engined turboprop died in a crash in Kamchatka. Russia historically had a poor air safety record but has significantly improved its aviation standards since the 2000s. The country’s main airlines have shifted from ageing Soviet aircraft to more modern planes. But maintenance issues and lax compliance with safety rules have remained a problem.
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