Pilot, Passenger From Helicopter Missing In Russia's Far East Dead - Investigators

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th May, 2021) The two people who were on board the Mi-2 helicopter that went missing in Russia's Kamchatka on Saturday were killed in a crash, according to preliminary information provided to Sputnik by the Far East investigation department on transport of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.

"During the search activities, the aircraft was found in a hard-to-reach area. According to preliminary information, the people who were on board died," a department spokesperson told Sputnik on Sunday, adding that a criminal case has been initiated on safety regulation violations.

Earlier on Saturday, a spokesperson from the local branch of the Russian Emergencies Ministry told Sputnik that rescuers had located a burned-down helicopter in the Chapayevka forest area near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy in Russia's Far East and that it was likely the exact same helicopter that went missing in Kamchatka Territory on Saturday.

On Saturday, Kamchatka emergency services told Sputnik that a helicopter with two people on board, the pilot and a passenger, went missing after departure from the town of Yelizovo.