A HELICOPTER carrying tourists around a volcano in Russia crashed reportedly killing all 22 people onboard.
Grim photos from the wreckage site showed the mangled soviet-era Mi-8 chopper in Kamchatka with state media pointing to pilot error as the cause of the crash.
The helicopter had 19 passengers and three crew on board when it crashed on Saturday, Kamchatka governor Vladimir Solodov said on Telegram.
It had taken off from a base near tourist spot Vachkazhets volcano and was heading for the village of Nikolaevka when it crashed.
By Sunday evening no survivors had been found, state news outlet Tass reported, before Russian Telegram channel SHOT news claimed 22 were dead.
The outlet said emergency officials believe the crash was caused by pilot error, and that the chopper smashed into a mountain during low visibility.
Mr Solodov announced on Sunday “we are doing everything possible to get specialists to the scene as quickly as we can”, as a search for survivors was launched.
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