A helicopter carrying tourists on a volcano sightseeing trip in Russia’s far east crashed into a lake on Thursday, leaving eight people feared dead and two others in serious condition, rescuers and local officials said. The Mi-8 helicopter carrying 16 people came down in a nature reserve on the mountainous Kamchatka peninsula, the local government said in a statement.
The helicopter was carrying three crew members and 13 passengers, all of them tourists, the government added. Forty rescuers and divers were dispatched to the scene. Acting local health minister Marina Volkova had earlier said nine had survived. Unnamed medical sources told TASS that the remaining eight were feared dead, but their fate was not immediately confirmed. Emergency workers including divers were searching for survivors in Kurile Lake in the Kronotsky nature reserve. The area where the crash occurred is only accessible by helicopter and fog was complicating the search. According to rescuers quoted by TASS, the helicopter sank after the crash and was lying at a depth of 100 metres (330 feet) in Lake Kuril. The Russian Investigation Committee, which handles air accident probes, said it was looking into a potential violation of air safety rules. The Vityaz-Aero helicopter was carrying the tourists to Khodutka, a volcano near the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Kamchatka is a large territory with few inhabitants that is popular with tourists drawn by its dramatic scenery. The nature reserve has Russia’s only geyser basin and is a major tourist attraction on the peninsula. The Mi-8 helicopter was manufactured 37 years ago and its operator said it was in good shape.
