PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, August 18. /TASS/. The bodies of all seven passengers and the pilot killed in the Mi-8 helicopter crash in Kamchatka on Thursday have been lifted from the bottom of Lake Kurilskoye, head of the region Vladimir Solodov reported on his Telegram channel.
On August 12, a Mi-8 helicopter of the Vityaz-Aero Airline carrying three crewmembers and 13 passengers crashed into a lake in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka. Eight people were rescued while the bodies of another eight people have been located and lifted to the surface.
"Today, thanks to the coordinated work of the Defense Ministry, the Emergencies Ministry, the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, the bodies of all those killed in the helicopter crash on Lake Kurilskoye were lifted [to the surface]. Now rescuers are facing the task of lifting the body of the helicopter, this is necessary for investigative actions as well as to avoid possible adverse consequences for the ecology," the governor wrote.
The search operation resumed on Wednesday at dawn, earlier it was suspended due to weather conditions. According to the Emergencies Ministry, at 15:00 (06:00 Moscow time) the search was over.
The Vityaz-Aero airline has been operating since 2009, its fleet consists of more than 20 Mi-8 helicopters of various modifications. It operates flights to the remote areas of Kamchatka, including passenger transportation of tourists to hard-to-reach areas. On August 13, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency prohibited the airline’s commercial passenger flights in Kamchatka.