This handout image published on September 1, 2024 shows a view of the crash site of a Russian Mi-8T helicopter in Kamchatka, Russia’s Far Eastern peninsula. | Photo credit: Reuters
Rescuers have located a helicopter that went missing in the Russian Far East with 22 people on board, officials said on Sunday (September 1, 2024).
Russia’s emergencies ministry said 17 bodies had been recovered and rescue workers were continuing to search for the remaining victims.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted the Emergencies Ministry as saying that all people on board the helicopter were killed. It said the helicopter probably crashed due to poor visibility caused by bad weather.
“The wreckage of the first missing helicopter was discovered from the air. It is located at an altitude of 900 meters near the place where it was last contacted,” the Emergencies Ministry wrote on Telegram.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency earlier said in a statement that the Mi-8 helicopter took off near the Vachkazhets volcano in the Kamchatka region on Saturday but failed to reach its destination on time.
He said he believed there were 19 passengers and three crew members on board the plane.
The Mi-8 is a twin-engine helicopter designed in the 1960s. It is widely used in Russia, where accidents have been frequent, as well as in neighboring countries and many other countries.