MOSCOW: Eighteen people were killed in a helicopter crash in the Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia on Saturday, the aviation watchdog and emergency services said. Eighteen people are feared killed after an MI-8 helicopter crashed in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia , Russia, according to preliminary reports.Russia's emergencies ministry said the MI-8 went down at 10.20 a.m., about 180km from the town of Igarka, the BBC reported.The ministry provided no further details. The second aircraft landed safely and the accident took place in "normal" weather conditions, according to preliminary findings. The passengers, workers heading to their shift at an oil-pumping station, and three crew members died when the Russian-made Mi-8 aircraft knocked into the cargo of an adjacent helicopter as both were completing take-off, watchdog Rosaviatsia said. Russian media quoted sources as saying that three crew members and 15 passengers were killed.The helicopter was operated by the Utair airline, according to an emergency services source cited by TASS, a Russian news agency.The helicopter is thought to have been taking workers to an oil well, when the crash occurred shortly after take-off.Its fuel tanks were said to be full, resulting in an inferno that reportedly completely incinerated the aircraft, express.co.uk reported.The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
An MI-8 helicopter belonging to Russian company Utair crashes in Siberia, killing 18 people.