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Rescuers find missing Mi-8 helicopter in Irkutsk Region

A Mi-8 helicopter operated by the Angara air carrier went missing on September 2

IRKUTSK, September 3. /TASS/. Rescuers have found the Mi-8 helicopter, which went missing in Russia’s Siberian Irkutsk Region on Sunday, a spokesman for the regional search and rescue center informed TASS on Monday.

"[The helicopter] was found at 06:03 Moscow time. An aircraft carrying rescuers is on its way there," he said.

The spokesman added that the helicopter had been discovered from an aircraft operated by Angara Airlines. "There is no additional information yet," he stressed.

 The Mil Mi-8 helicopter crash killed three pilots, a source in the regional emergency services told TASS. "Three bodies have been found at the helicopter crash site, which means that all the three people onboard died," the source said, adding that the impact had destroyed the helicopter.

The Mi-8 helicopter  has been found 290 kilometers away from the Ust-Kut city, an administrative center of the Ust-Kut District in the Irkutsk Region, Irina Butenko, a spokesperson for the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Siberian Regional Center, told TASS on Monday.

"The helicopter was found 290 kilometers away from Ust-Kut. Experts are exploring the possibility of getting closer to it," she said.

A Mi-8 helicopter operated by the Angara air carrier vanished from radar screens on Sunday when it was on a surveying mission. There were three Angara employees aboard. The air search operation, which involved a Mi-8 helicopter and an An-26 plane, was suspended for the nighttime.

The operation continued on Monday, with four Mi-8 helicopters and an An-26 plane taking part in it. About 40 people were involved in the operation.