15 Oilfield Workers 3 Crew Killed In Helicopter Crash

All 18 people aboard an Mi-8 helicopter carrying oil workers in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region died on Saturday when the aircraft crashed, Russian authorities reported.

The helicopter, with three crew members and 15 passengers aboard, crashed beside an oil installation at some 180 kilometers (110 miles) from the town of Igarka, according to preliminary data from the regional department of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry.

“According to early reports, the helicopter with passengers aboard took off after another transporting a metal structure and ran into it, causing it to crash,” a source at the scene of the accident told the Interfax news agency.

The Utair airline, owner of the crashed helicopter, said the accident occurred at 0243 GMT near the Vankor heliport, and confirmed that all aboard were killed.

According to the official Utair statement, weather conditions were normal at the time of the accident.

The pilot, who was not identified by the airline, had close to 6,000 flight hours.

The Mi-8 is a twin-turbine medium-sized helicopter operated by a crew of three and capable of transporting up to 24 people or 3,000 kilos (6,600 lbs.) of cargo.

Meanwhile, halfway around the world, Bolivian President Evo Morales regretted the deadly accident and expressed his solidarity Saturday with the Russian people and with his counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

“We regret the news of the death of 15 oilfield workers and three crew members of the Mi-8 helicopter, in a tragic accident in the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk, Russia,” the Bolivian president wrote on Twitter.