MOSCOW, June 6 (RIA Novosti) – A Mil Mi-8 helicopter with four crewmembers has gone missing in Russia’s Far East, a spokesman for Russia’s Voluntary Association of Assistance to the Army, Air Force and Navy (DOSAAF) said on Thursday.
Reports earlier on Thursday said the helicopter, which belongs to DOSAAF, was flying from Tugur to Briakan when it failed to establish contact with air controllers at the designated time. The Mi-8 helicopter was reportedly carrying four people and about three tons of fish.
“Now it has officially become known that there were four people aboard, all of them crewmembers,” the DOSAAF spokesman said.
An initial search for the missing helicopter has yielded no results. When it grew dark in the Far East, the rescue operation was suspended until morning, the spokesman said.
The regional Emergencies Center has reported there were five people aboard the helicopter.
“According to the latest data, there were four crewmembers and a passenger aboard the helicopter, and also about three tons of cargo (food items and fish),” the regional Emergencies Center said.
