A helicopter that 16 tourists onboard and crew on a sightseeing trip in Russia’s far east crashed into a lake yesterday, leaving eight people including a child feared dead and two others in serious condition.
The Mi-8 helicopter crash-landed into the icy waters of Kuril Lake in the mountainous Kamchatka peninsula in poor visibility and sank, local authorities said.
Staff of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve dispatched boats to the crash site and saved eight people, two of whom are now in intensive care with various injuries. Survivors praised wildlife inspectors for coming to their rescue in a matter of minutes.
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‘This situation is close to a miracle,’ said governor Vladimir Solodov.
The other eight — including the only child on board and the crew commander — were missing and feared dead.
‘We don’t have any information about the rest,’ the governor’s spokeswoman, Alla Golovan, told reporters.
The wreckage of the helicopter was now lying at a depth of more than 130 metres (420 feet) some 700 metres from the shore, the emergencies ministry said.
Africa Daily News, New York gathered that rescuers and divers were dispatched to the scene but they did not have the necessary equipment to begin work at that depth.
Solodov said the authorities turned to the defence ministry, which sent the necessary underwater equipment.
‘Robots will be studying the bottom of Kuril Lake at the site of the crash,’ the governor said.
The tourists were from Russia’s second city Saint Petersburg.
One of the survivors, Viktor Strelkin, said that at the time of the accident he was sleeping and woke up when a stream of water hit him in the face.
‘My friend’s son was sitting next to me. He was fastened with a security belt and I did not have time to yank him out because I woke up too late,’ Strelkin said in remarks released by authorities.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
