No survivors in Russian helicopter crash

Searchers found no survivors among the wreckage of a Russian helicopter that crashed in the far eastern peninsula of Kamchatka with 22 people on board, state news agency TASS said on Sunday.

The Mi-8T helicopter had taken off from a base near the Vachkazhets volcano. The Kamchatka peninsula, some 7,100 km east of Moscow, was hit by a cyclone over the weekend, with heavy winds and rain, but it was not clear if that was the cause of the crash.

Rescue teams in helicopters had been searching into the night for the missing aircraft, focusing on a river valley that the helicopter was due to fly along, Russian authorities said.

The Mi-8 is a Soviet-designed military helicopter that is widely used for transport in Russia.

A source in the emergency services told TASS news agency that the helicopter disappeared from radar almost immediately after taking off and the crew did not report any problems.