Russian helicopter with 22 people missing in Kamchatka

Shafaq News/ On Saturday, the Russian Emergency Ministry reported the disappearance of a helicopter over the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's far east.

According to Interfax, the Federal Air Transport Agency stated that “the Mi-8T helicopter took off from a base near the Vatchkazhets volcano but failed to establish communication with its crew at the scheduled time of 04:00 GMT.”

The Emergency Ministry noted that thick fog in the area is hindering search and rescue operations.

Kamchatka, which is nine hours ahead of Moscow, is known for its pristine rivers, hot springs, and volcanoes.

Vladimir Solodov, the governor of Kamchatka, said in a video posted on Telegram, "A Mi-8 helicopter... has disappeared from radar with 22 people onboard, including 19 passengers and three crew members."

He added that a flight operation was carried out in the area but yielded no results due to poor visibility.

Russian authorities have dispatched a team of rescuers and two helicopters urgently to the incident area.

The Mi-8 is a Soviet-made military helicopter.

Accidents involving aircraft and helicopters are common in Russia's far east, a remote region.

In August 2021, a Mi-8 helicopter carrying 16 people, including 13 tourists, crashed into Kamchatka Lake due to poor visibility, resulting in eight fatalities.

In July of the same year, a commercial aircraft with 22 passengers and six crew members crashed while preparing to land in Kamchatka, killing everyone onboard.