According to rescuers and local officials, a helicopter carrying tourists on a volcano sightseeing excursion in Russia’s far east crashed into a lake on Thursday, killing eight people and seriously injuring two more.
The Mi-8 helicopter, which was carrying 16 people, crashed in a nature reserve on the hilly Kamchatka peninsula, according to the local authority.
“Eight individuals were saved, two of them are in critical condition,” said Alexander Zabolichenko, a senior Kamchatka regional administration official.
According to the authorities, the helicopter was carrying three crew members and 13 passengers, all of whom were tourists. A total of forty rescuers and divers were sent to the location.
Marina Volkova, the acting local health minister, had previously stated that nine people had survived.
The remaining eight were thought dead, according to unnamed medical sources, although their fate was not immediately confirmed.
The helicopter sank following the crash, according to rescuers quoted by TASS, and was found at a depth of 100 meters (330 feet) in Lake Kuril.
The Russian Investigation Committee, which investigates air accidents, said it was looking into a possible violation of aviation regulations.
The passengers were being transported to Khodutka, a volcano near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, by a Vityaz-Aero helicopter. Kamchatka is a huge territory with a small population that attracts travellers due to its spectacular beauty.
A small local company’s plane crashed near the peninsula in early July, killing 19 people. Russia has a bad reputation for air safety in the past, although it has considerably improved since the 2000s.
The country’s leading airlines have switched from Soviet-era planes to more modern aircraft. However, maintenance concerns and a lack of adherence to safety regulations have remained a problem.
An Aeroflot plane caught fire while making an emergency landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in May 2019, killing 41 passengers.
