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Engine failure and piloting error are main versions of helicopter crash in Kamchatka

A rescue operation is underway

MOSCOW, 12 August. /TASS/. Engine failure and piloting error are considered among the main versions of the causes of the Mi-8 helicopter crash in Kamchatka, a source in the emergency services told TASS on Thursday.

"Both engine failure and piloting error are considered among the main versions of a hard landing," the source said.

Earlier, the Main Directorate of the Emergencies Ministry of Kamchatka reported about a hard landing of the Mi-8 helicopter of the Vityaz-Aero company near the Kuril Lake of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve. According to preliminary information, there were three crew members and 13 passengers on board. According to the press service of the regional government, Governor Vladimir Solodov flew to the scene with the Emergencies Ministry officers and medical aviation doctors.

A rescue operation is underway. The staff of the reserve heard the sound of a water collision and promptly went to the place where the helicopter was found to rescue passengers. The first passengers have already been lifted out of the water, the press service of the Elizovsky municipal district reported. According to a source in the emergency services, eight people died, eight more survived. The helicopter sank in the lake, the source said.

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