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Eight people missing after helicopter crash in Kamchatka — airline

All passengers were insured

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, August 12. /TASS/. Eight of the sixteen people who were on board of the crashed helicopter in Kamchatka are yet to be found, Dmitry Chernykh, the commercial director of the Vityaz-Aero airline, which owns the crashed Mi-8, told TASS.

"Eight victims have already been delivered to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the remaining eight have not yet been found. All passengers were insured, as for compensations - this will be decided on an individual basis. I am not ready to name the amounts yet, it has not been decided. But assistance will definitely be provided," he said.

Earlier, the regional Health Ministry reported that eight victims were delivered to the regional capital by helicopter - all of them were taken to the Kamchatka regional hospital. According to preliminary information, two of the eight patients are in serious condition.

A Mi-8 helicopter owned by Vityaz-Aero crashed into Lake Kuril in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka. At the site of the emergency, doctors and rescuers are working. The helicopter was inspected before departure and had no technical problems, but the landing was carried out in foggy conditions. A criminal case has been initiated into the helicopter crash.

Vityaz-Aero Airlines has been operating in Kamchatka since 2009, its fleet consists of more than 20 Mi-8 helicopters.

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