Seven killed in Siberian helicopter crash
(Changes dateline, previous MOSCOW, updates death toll)
BARNAUL, Russia, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Seven people were killed, including a senior Russian official, when their helicopter crashed in a snow-covered mountain region of Siberia on Friday, officials said Sunday.
President Dmitry Medvedev's representative to Russia's lower house of parliament, Alexander Kosopkin, was one of the seven found dead on Sunday when rescuers finally located the wreckage of the helicopter in the Altai region of southern Siberia.
"Seven people died at the scene, including Alexander Kosopkin," Daniyar Safiulin, head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry forces in Siberia, told Reuters.
Medvedev offered his condolences to Kosopkin's family, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The group, which also included senior officials from the Altai region, was on a hunting expedition, local media said.
Four survivors were being treated in the city of Barnaul, two in a serious condition, an Emergencies Ministry spokesman said. The Emergencies Ministry corrected an earlier report that eight people had been killed in the crash.
One passenger was found in a state of shock, searching for help several kilometres from the crash site, Safiulin said.
A spokesman for the Altai region government said officials were investigating the possibility that poor quality fuel caused the helicopter's engines to break down. (Reporting by Natalya Sokhareva; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Elizabeth Piper) (conor.humphries@thomsonreuters.com; +7495 775 1242)
BARNAUL, Russia, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Seven people were killed, including a senior Russian official, when their helicopter crashed in a snow-covered mountain region of Siberia on Friday, officials said Sunday.
President Dmitry Medvedev's representative to Russia's lower house of parliament, Alexander Kosopkin, was one of the seven found dead on Sunday when rescuers finally located the wreckage of the helicopter in the Altai region of southern Siberia.
"Seven people died at the scene, including Alexander Kosopkin," Daniyar Safiulin, head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry forces in Siberia, told Reuters.
Medvedev offered his condolences to Kosopkin's family, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The group, which also included senior officials from the Altai region, was on a hunting expedition, local media said.
Four survivors were being treated in the city of Barnaul, two in a serious condition, an Emergencies Ministry spokesman said. The Emergencies Ministry corrected an earlier report that eight people had been killed in the crash.
One passenger was found in a state of shock, searching for help several kilometres from the crash site, Safiulin said.
A spokesman for the Altai region government said officials were investigating the possibility that poor quality fuel caused the helicopter's engines to break down. (Reporting by Natalya Sokhareva; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Elizabeth Piper) (conor.humphries@thomsonreuters.com; +7495 775 1242)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved.
Man walks into his own funeral.