Russian helicopter crashes with 22 people on board: 17 bodies found around the wreckage of the aircraft

The helicopter crashed in Kamchatka, Russia, with 22 people on board. dpa – Soeren Stache

The wreckage of the Mi-8 helicopter, which had been missing since Saturday with 22 people on board, was found Sunday in the Russian Far East, along with 17 bodies, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry announced.

“Seventeen bodies have already been found”, the Russian ministry said in a statement, according to which the searches have ended for the day and will resume “at dawn” Monday in the crash area.

Debris of the aircraft

The ministry released a video of the search in a volcanic area, showing the wreckage of the craft on the ground from a rescue helicopter in the air.

The Mi-8 helicopter had disappeared from radar on Saturday at Kamchatka, where accidents involving often obsolete aircraft remain frequent.

A first overflight of the area to find the aircraft and the 22 people on board (19 passengers and three members) had yielded nothing on Saturday, due to poor visibility according to the authorities, before resuming on Sunday.

Investigation underway

A group of rescuers and two helicopters were urgently deployed to the presumed site of the accident, on the volcanic peninsula of Kamchatka.

An investigation has been opened, the regional branch of the Russian Investigative Committee announced on Sunday. “The circumstances of the incident are being established,” she said in a statement.

The MI-8 is a Soviet-made military helicopter.

The volcanic peninsula of Kamchatka is renowned for its magnificent landscapes, which tourists enjoy flying over in helicopters, for an entrance ticket that is often very expensive.

Airplane and helicopter crashes are quite common in the Russian Far East, a wild and remote.

A previous crash in 2021

In August 2021, a Mi-8 helicopter with 16 people on board, including 13 tourists, crashed into a lake in Kamchatka due to poor visibility. The accident left eight people dead.

In July of the same year, a passenger plane crashed with 22 passengers and six crew members on board as it was preparing to land on the volcanic peninsula, leaving no survivors.