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Inquiry launched into Mi-8 accident

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

VLADIVOSTOK, July 2 (Itar-Tass) - An inquiry is launched into the Mi-8 helicopter accident in Yakutia.

The press service of the Eastern Siberian transport investigation department of the Russian Investigative Committee said that the Mi-8 helicopter of Polar Airlines, which was on a flight from the settlement of Deputatsky to the village of Ust-Yana, made a hard landing in the Ust-Yana district, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), 45-50 km northwest of the settlement of Deputatsky at about 05:20 Moscow time on Tuesday.

Aboard the helicopter were 28 people, three crew and 25 passengers. Whether to open a criminal case is under consideration now. A group of investigators together with a deputy Eastern Siberian regional transport prosecutor left for the site.

The Mi-8 made a hard landing supposedly because of loss of control, an official source in the republic told Itar-Tass.

According to the preliminary information, the Mi-8 fell on a hill when it was out of control because of air flows.

Information about victims was not confirmed.

There were reports about deaths, but the information was not confirmed, the Yakutian police press service told Itar-Tass.

The crew captain contacted rescuers. He said nobody died, a police source reported.

The information that the Mi-8 made a hard landing 45 km northwest of the airfield at the settlement of Deputatsky in the Ust-Yana district was received by the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s crisis management centre in Yakutia at 05:20 Moscow time on Tuesday. The captain gave the information, using satellite communication, the press service of the Far Eastern regional centre of the Emergencies Ministry said.

According to the earlier reports, the helicopter was on a flight from the settlement of Deputatsky to the village of Kazachye with 28 people aboard - three crew and 25 passengers, including three children.

Helicopters with rescuers and medical specialists were sent from the settlements of Batagai and Tiksi to the landing site.

An An-26 plane of Polar Airlines is also ready in Yakutsk to fly out. If necessary, an EMERCOM An-74 plane with rescuers and psychologists aboard will be sent to the site.

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