International Desk:
Dhaka, Aug-12,
A helicopter carrying tourists plunged into a
deep volcanic crater lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far east
Thursday, and rescuers were searching in the lake for up to eight people
missing, officials said. At least eight others reportedly survived.
The helicopter crashed
in the Kronotsky nature reserve, and the regional administration said workers
were searching for survivors in Kurile Lake, which was formed in a volcano
caldera and crater.
Russia’s Emergencies
Ministry said 13 tourists and three crew members were aboard the Mi-8
helicopter and eight people survived, according to the state RIA Novosti news
agency. It said two of them were heavily injured.
The Interfax news
agency, however, cited officials as saying the helicopter was carrying three
crew members and 14 tourists when it went down in deep fog. Interfax initially
quoted regional officials as saying that nine people, including two pilots,
survived the crash, but later reported that only eight survivors were found
while the search for the others is continuing.
The varying numbers
could not be immediately reconciled. The reports did not list the nationalities
of the tourists, but said that most of them were from Moscow and St.
Petersburg.
Regional prosecutors
were investigating a possible violation of flight safety rules.
The helicopter
reportedly is lying at a depth of about 100 meters (328 feet) in Kurile Lake,
which is up to 316 meters (1,037-feet) deep with an area of 77 square
kilometers (30 square miles).
The helicopter,
manufactured during the Soviet era 37 years ago, was operated by Vityaz-Aero, a
local private carrier. Its director said it had recently undergone maintenance
and was in good shape.
The Mi-8 is a
two-engine helicopter designed in the 1960s. It has been used widely in Russia,
ex-Soviet countries and many other nations.
The area where the
crash occurred can only be reached by helicopters and the fog was complicating
rescue efforts, the RIA Novosti reported. Several local emergency workers,
including three divers, were conducting rescue efforts, it said.
Kamchatka, the pristine
peninsula which is home to numerous volcanoes is known for its rugged beauty
and rich wildlife. The Kronotsky reserve, which has Russia’s only geyser basin,
is a major tourist attraction on Kamchatka and helicopters regularly carry
tourists there.
Quickly changing
weather often makes flights risky. Last month, an An-26 passenger plane crashed
on Kamchatka while approaching an airport in bad weather, killing all 28 people
on board.
Russian news reports
said Vityaz-Aero is half-owned by Igor Redkin, a millionaire businessman who is
a member of the Kamchatka regional legislature. Redkin was placed under house
arrest earlier this week after he shot and killed a man who was rummaging in a
garbage bin. Redkin said the shooting was accidental after he mistook the
victim for a bear.
There are an estimated
20,000 bears on Kamchatka, and they occasionally roam into settlements looking
for food.
End/Dct/Int/Sma/
