A tourist helicopter carrying 16 people plunged into a deep volcanic crater lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far east.
Interfax news agency 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.
According to the state RIA Novosti news agency, thirteen tourists from Moscow and St Petersburg, including a child, and three crew were on board when the Mi-8 helicopter crashed and sank in Kurile Lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula, which was formed in a volcano caldera and crater.
Officials say that the helicopter is too deep for divers to operate – lying at a depth of 137 metres (450ft).
The emergencies ministry said that the aircraft crashed about 700 metres from the shore. They added that specialist deep-water equipment was expected to arrive shortly.
Tourist Viktor Stvolkin gave an account of how he escaped the terrible crash.
He was quoted by Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency saying that he was asleep during the flight and woke up when “the water hit my face in a stream”.
“My friend’s son was sitting next to me. He was fastened with seat belts, and I did not have time to pull him [free]. I only managed to unfasten myself.”
Mr Stvolkin added that he had managed to escape through the cockpit’s smashed window from a depth of about eight or nine metres.
Regional prosecutors were investigating a possible violation of flight safety rules.
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 pristine peninsula is a known tourist attraction, however, 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.
