MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials say 15 people are injured after a passenger helicopter made a rough emergency landing in Siberia on Wednesday morning.
The Mi-8 helicopter with 21 passengers and three crew members got caught in a snowstorm soon after taking off in the village of Baykit, officials from the local branch of Russia’s Emergency Ministry said.
The helicopter toppled over upon landing. The injured have received medical help and two remain in a hospital, health care officials said.
Police are investigating the accident.
The Mi-8, code-named Hip by NATO, is a medium twin-turbine helicopter designed in the Soviet Union and widely used in Russia as a transport aircraft. Rough landings and other incidents involving Mi-8 helicopters have become rather common in Russia in recent months.
On Wednesday afternoon, another Mi-8 helicopter made an rough emergency landing in one of Russia’s Arctic regions. All 23 people on board were evacuated without injuries, emergency officials in the Nenets region said.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the incident.
