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Three crew members killed in helicopter crash in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region

An investigation is underway

© ITAR-TASS/EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

KIEV, June 22, /ITAR-TASS/. Three people have been killed in a Mil Mi-8 helicopter (NATO reporting name: Hip) crash in the Kharkov Region in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said Sunday.

“On June 21, the regional Interior Ministry department unit received a report from the search and rescue emergencies center’s officer on duty stating that a Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian emergency situations state service with a crew of three people on board has disappeared from radars in the vicinity of the village of Vasishchevo of the Kharkov Region,” the ministry said.

The helicopter was discovered on Sunday morning in a nearby forest.

The Interior Ministry said the search operation that lasted nearly 24 hours employed 39 aircraft and vehicles and some 500 personnel. It said violation of air traffic regulations is considered as the key reason for the accident.

An investigation is underway.

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