A rescue helicopter crashed in Bashkiria

A Robinson rescue helicopter, monitoring the situation with forest fires, crashed in the Beloretsky district of Bashkiria, reports , citing Dmitry Zakharov, senior assistant to the head of the Privolzhsky Investigative Committee for Transport. RIA Novosti

“According to the investigation, the helicopter crashed. It is located about 15 kilometers from the village of Inzya. Investigators and criminologists went to this place,” Zakharov said.

As a representative of the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations told the agency , the helicopter stopped communicating at 16:20 local time (14:20 Moscow time). There was a pilot and two forest firefighters on board.

A TASS source in the region's emergency services reported that three people on board died.

“According to preliminary information, the helicopter crashed 30 km south of the village of Inzer, Beloretsk district. There were three people on board; according to preliminary data, all died,” the agency’s source said.

A representative of the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations told RIA Novosti that the helicopter had been found.

“The helicopter has been found. Rescuers are descending from a helicopter to the aircraft,” he said.

The agency's interlocutor did not specify the current condition of the helicopter. There is no information about the fate of the crew.

The source noted that earlier an emergency beacon went off on board the helicopter.

According to a RIA Novosti source in the region's emergency services, the helicopter belongs to the private company Light Air.