According to updated data, about 80 people died in the Mi-26 crash

As a result of the Mi-26 helicopter crash in Chechnya, about 80 servicemen died on Monday, a source at the headquarters of the Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus told Interfax. According to him, only 32 servicemen were saved, including five members of the crew. There were 106 people on board the helicopter.

According to the reports of the crew, during the flight of the helicopter at an altitude of 180-200 meters, there was a bang in the area of ​​​​the right engine, and the "Fire" board lit up in the cockpit at the same time. The crew decided to make an emergency landing. The helicopter hit the ground and caught fire.

The head of the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Colonel Nikolai Deryabin, previously told Interfax that the crew commander, Major Oleg Batanov, reported to the ground that the engine had caught fire. helicopter and reported an emergency landing approach. According to Deryabin, 13 people were injured as a result.

In turn, a source in the army aviation headquarters said agency that from under the wreckage of the helicopter already the bodies of 10 dead soldiers were recovered. "The wreckage of the helicopter continues to burn and the exact number of dead and wounded servicemen is still impossible to establish. Rescue work continues," the source said.

Another source at the headquarters of the United Forces in the North Caucasus told Interfax that "according to preliminary data, the cause of the helicopter crash was either a hit by a missile fired by militants from a portable anti-aircraft missile system, or shelling from a heavy machine gun."