By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A Russian Mil Mi-8 helicopter has crashed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the fate of the crew is unknown, a Russian official said Sunday.
The helicopter, which belonged to Russian airline UTair, worked in the central African country under a UN contract.
“According to preliminary information, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the mountainous terrain at an altitude of 2,700 metres, some 20 km southwest of the town of Bukavu,” the unnamed official said.
There were four crew members, all of them Russian nationals, onboard the helicopter.
UTair earlier reported that an Mi-8AMT helicopter was performing a Shabunda-Bukavu flight Saturday in complex weather conditions.
Communication with the helicopter was interrupted around 15 km from the Bukavu airport.
The helicopter was detected in hard-to-access terrain Sunday at an altitude of 2,700 metres.