No survivors after Russian authorities find wreckage of Far East helicopter crash

By Catherine Nicholls and Darya Tarasova, CNN

(CNN) — The wreckage of a Russian helicopter carrying 22 people that went missing in the country’s Far East on Saturday was discovered Sunday, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry announced. None of those on board survived, emergency services told Russian state media TASS on Sunday.

The Mi-8T helicopter had 19 passengers and three crew members on board when it disappeared near a volcano in the Kamchatka peninsula, Kamchatka Krai governor Vladimir Solodov said in a video statement Saturday. It had set off from a site near the region’s Vachkazhets volcano and was travelling to the village of Nikolaevka.

Seventeen bodies of those on board had been found by Sunday evening local time, the ministry said.

TASS reported Sunday that the helicopter crashed into a hill while flying in poor conditions. Low visibility, drizzle, and fog were observed in the Kamchatka region where the helicopter was flying, TASS said.

“According to preliminary data, the cause was crew error. In conditions of poor visibility, the helicopter crashed into a hill,” a source from the Emergencies Ministry told TASS.

The crew did not report any malfunctions to the aircraft, operational services said.

More than 60 specialists were deployed to look for the helicopter alongside 15 units of search equipment, the Emergencies Ministry said Sunday. They were searching while a cyclone was in effect, with fog and rain complicating their efforts.

Kamchatka’s investigative department for transport is conducting an investigation into possible violations of rules related to traffic safety and air transport operation, it said in a Telegram post Saturday.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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