In the wreckage of a helicopter that vanished while carrying 22 people, the majority of whom were tourists, rescuers in the far east of Russia have not discovered any survivors.
After taking off from a base close to the Vachkazhets volcano in the Kamchatka peninsula, the aircraft vanished on last Saturday. On Sunday, officials reported that 17 bodies had been located to date.
The region is well-known for its active volcanoes and is a favourite vacation spot. It’s unclear what caused the crash.The far east of Russia experiences severe weather and is home to a sparse population, making such accidents rather common there. When a tourist helicopter crashed into a Kamchatka lake three years ago, eight people perished.
“A Russian tourist helicopter crashed, leaving 17 bodies found”
The Mi-8T helicopter, which carried 19 tourists and 3 crew members, vanished from radar on Saturday.
The wreckage was discovered in a hilly region on Sunday morning, according to Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov on Telegram.The Russian emergency ministry shared footage of helicopter debris resting next to a hill that is heavily forested on the messaging app. The wreckage was discovered close to the spot where the helicopter vanished from sight, according to officials.
Ivan Lemikhov, an official with the emergency ministry, reported that 17 bodies had been discovered so far. The search for the remaining missing has been put on hold, and it is scheduled to resume at daybreak on Monday.
According to the Russian news agency Interfax, the primary theory for the crash’s cause was pilot error, which may have been brought on by fog.Officials had earlier claimed that the heavy fog was impeding the efforts of the rescuers.
The owner of the aircraft was Vityaz-Aero, a tourist flight organising company with its headquarters in Kamchatka.The Mi-8 helicopter, created during the Soviet era, is still in heavy use in Russia.
(BBC)
