Eight Killed in Chechnya after Russian Helicopter Crash
16/07/2005| IslamWeb
A military helicopter crashed in Chechnya on Saturday, killing eight people, the Russian news agencies reported, citing an air force spokesman.
Officials initially had said there were four people aboard the air force Mi-8 helicopter, but three Russian news agencies later quoted air force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky as saying there were nine on the aircraft and that eight were killed.
The crash killed three crew members and five border guards who were passengers on the aircraft, Drobyshevsky said, according to Interfax. He said the surviving passenger was flown to the main Russian military base in Chechnya and hospitalized there.
Citing unnamed air force officials, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported that preliminary information indicated the helicopter flew into a mountainside, wording that suggested authorities did not believe it was shot down.
Chechen fighters have shot down several Russian helicopters over the region during the two wars there in the past decade, sometimes using shoulder-held missile launchers. Others have crashed because of technical problems or pilot error.
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