Missing Mi-8 found crashed in Irkutsk

A Mi-8 helicopter missing in the Irkutsk region, southeastern Siberia, was found crashed, Russian Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman Irina Rossius told Itar-Tass on Monday. “The helicopter was found with wreckage signs 7 kilometers from the village of Priobrazhenka, the Katangsky district,” she said. There have been no reports on the fate of ten people onboard so far. At the prescribed time the helicopter that went to monitor the floods failed to get on for a radio contact at 12:54 Moscow time. A source in the law enforcement bodies told Itar-Tass that there were three crewmembers and four officials of the Emergencies Ministry onboard, including the acting head of the Irkutsk region main emergencies department, Igor Chekrygin. The helicopter carried 1.9 tonnes of ammonite, an explosive substance, to liquidate ice jams on Lower Tunguska River, where water sharply rose threatening to flood the village of Priobrazhenka. The helicopter was owned by Angara Airlines that carries people and delivers cargo and mail to hard-to-access places of the Siberian Federal District. The air carrier has twelve helicopters in its fleet - Mi-8T, Mi-8P and Mi-8 MTV.