A helicopter with tourists crashed in Russia: 8 people died

In Russia, in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka, a Mi-8 helicopter crashed with 16 people on board: 13 passengers, including a child, and three crew members. The crash happened over the Kuril Lake - the helicopter sank at a depth of about 100 m. with the BBC.

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Eight people survived, five were sent to the hospital, the rest remained in a nearby village.

Rescuers and divers are working on site. The Russian Emergencies Ministry reported that initially the divers had with them equipment for working only at a depth of 20 meters.

The helicopter began to sink

The press service of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve reported that rescuers arrived at the site of the helicopter crash in a matter of minutes.

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“On Thursday, August 12, at 09:25 local time, there was fog on the lake, visibility did not exceed 100 meters. We heard the sound of a helicopter, but did not see it. Judging by the sound, it flew over the lake and began to turn. Then there was a loud bang as the helicopter hit the water surface. We immediately launched two boats and in 3-4 minutes we reached the crash site, which we identified by the wave,” said local state inspector of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve Evgeniy Denges.

He said that the brigade immediately rescued 8 people who were on the surface of the water. The survivors were taken ashore. After that, rescuers drove around the lake several times, but no one else was found.

As the rescued employees told the reserve staff, the helicopter began to sink with its nose down, and the rear doors of the aircraft were opened from hitting the water. The surviving passengers managed to swim out from a depth of 8-9 meters.

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The fate of the rest is still unknown, but they had little chance of survival, since the water temperature in the lake does not exceed 6 degrees Celsius.

According to the press service of the government of the Kamchatka Territory, two victims were taken to the intensive care unit of the regional hospital in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, there is no threat to their lives.

The fallen Mi-8 belongs to the Vityaz-Aer company. Its founder and co-owner is Igor Redkin, a Kamchatka deputy arrested on charges of murder.

The helicopter was in good condition and underwent a major overhaul in 2020, said the company’s commercial director Dmitry Chernykh. But the aircraft was almost 40 years old. Its airworthiness certificate expires in less than a year - June 16, 2022.

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