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Interstate AviationCom confirms Russian helicopter downed in S Sudan

All the four crewmembers (all Russian citizens) died. Another person, a U.N. mission employee, who was aboard the Mi-8, also died

MOSCOW, December 22 (Itar-Tass) —— The Interstate Aviation Committee has confirmed the fact of the Russian Mi-8 helicopter crash in South Sudan

The Mi-8 on a flight in South Sudan for the U.N. mission was shot down on Friday, December 21, and was found burnt on the ground, an IAC official told Itar-Tass.

When contact with the Mi-8 was lost shortly after it took off, other two helicopters flew out to search for it. They found the burnt helicopter on the ground, the official said.

All the four crewmembers (all Russian citizens), who were aboard, died.

The helicopter belonged to the Nizhnevartovskavia company. According to acting company head Sergei Bakunin, there are no residents of Nizhnevartovsk and Yugra among the victims.

Another person, a U.N. mission employee, who was aboard the Mi-8, also died. His nationality is not known yet.

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