RUSSIAN HELICOPTER MISSING , 22 PASSENGERS ON BOARD
A Russian helicopter with 22 people on board has gone missing in Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula.
The peninsula is located in the country’s far east area.
In a video posted on Telegram, Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said communication with the Mi-8 helicopter was lost at about 16:15 local time on Saturday. The people on board consist of 19 passengers and three crew members.
The Mi-8 is a Soviet-designed military helicopter and is very popular.
Rescue operators have been searching into the night but had to stop because of poor visibility. They’ve been focusing on a river valley that was on the helicopter’s flight path.
The area where communication was lost is located more than 6,000 kilometres east of Moscow and is very popular among tourists.
Unfortunately, the number of air crashes has been increasing over the last few years with two crashes in just two months in 2021 alone.
The search is continuing.
Image credit: Asharq Al-Awsat