Seven feared dead after VIP tourist helicopter crashes into deep volcanic lake – World News

The stricken Russian Mi-8 crashed nose down into the lake in the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia with at least eight survivors swimming to save their lives out of the rear cargo hatches

Seven are feared killed after a VIP tourist helicopter with 16 people on board crashed and plunged into a deep volcanic lake.

The stricken Russian Mi-8 crashed nose down into the lake in the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia.

A child was also among those unaccounted for, said officials.

At least eight survivors swam to save their lives out of the rear cargo hatches which had opened on impact.

They told rescuers they were up to 30ft below the surface when they escaped from the sinking helicopter and swam to the surface in the 6C waters.

“Eight people were rescued, two of them are in serious condition,” said senior Kamchatka regional government official Alexander Zabolichenko.

Later reports citing the regional health ministry said that nine had survived, six men and two women, but there remained discrepancies in the number of survivors.

“Nine people have been found, they are all alive,” a source told Interfax.

Two of the rescued were in “grave” conditions after being plucked from the chilly water.

The wounded were rushed inside a hospital, while a video showed attempts to search the scene on the fog-bound lake.

The Mi-8 with a total of 16 on board crashed as it attempted to land in thick fog, said reports.

Wildlife rangers in the Kronotsky nature reserve, famed for its spectacular volcano-and-geyser scenery and wild brown bears, rushed to the scene after hearing the helicopter crash, it was reported.

Yevgeny Denges, the district state inspector of the Kronotsky nature reserve, said: “We heard the noise of the helicopter, but did not see it.

“Judging by the sound, it flew over the lake and began to turn towards our base.

“Then there was a loud bang – the helicopter hit the water.

“We immediately launched two boats and in three or four minutes reached the crash site, which we identified by waves in the water.

“There were eight people on the surface of the water, who were immediately lifted aboard and taken to the cordon.

“Two were seriously injured.

“We began to provide first aid to the victims, to warm them up.

“We moved the boat around the lake several times in search of other people, but found no-one.”

Visibility was less than 100 metres when the helicopter crashed at 9.25am local time, he said.

Many tourists visit the lake to watch up to 1,000 bears gathering to fish its teeming water.

The trip was said to be for tourists on a ‘VIP trip’.

The helicopter sank to a depth of 137 metres (450ft) in the caldera and crater lake, said reports but divers at the scene only had equipment to go down 20 metres (65ft).

Reports said that no bodies had been located yet in the waters and rescuers have sought help from the Russian navy with deep diving equipment.

The passengers were mainly staycationers from Moscow and St Petersburg who had taken their summer holidays at home during the Covid-19 crisis, say reports.

One survivor was Nikolay Korzhenevsky, ex-TV presenter at Rossiya 24 channel, now a respected specialist in stock trading in Russia, who teaches at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics and is a Fellow of the Oxford Foundation.

The Vityaz-Aero helicopter was carrying the tourists to Khodutka, a volcano near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Other survivors were Vityaz Aero guide Anastasia Ponomareva, the helicopter’s technician Marat Madiev and navigator Yakov Medvedev.

Tourists Georgy Kovantsev and Elena Antipina were also among those rescued from the lake crash site.

Tourist Mikhail Malyakov survived, but his son Daniil was reported missing.

At least five survivors were flown to hospital in regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

The two engine Mi-8 was manufactured during the Soviet era 37 years ago, and underwent major repairs last year.

It was operated by Vityaz-Aero, a local private carrier.

A criminal case was opened into the crash.

Engine failure and pilot error were seen as the main versions of the Mi-8 tragedy, a source in the emergency services told TASS.

“Both engine failure and piloting error are considered among the main versions of a hard landing,” the source said.