Russian news agencies reported Monday that the crash in Chechnya of a Russian military transport helicopter had killed at least 80 servicemen on board, but officials said the full number of casualties could not be defined yet.
The large Mi-26 helicopter, designed for maximum 82 people, wasreportedly carrying 132 people when it went down near the Russian military headquarters at Khankala outside the regional capital of Grozny.
Col. Boris Podoprigora, deputy commander of Russian troops in Chechnya, said there were 132 people aboard. He said 32 were hospitalized and would survive and others who were injured were being treated at the crash site. Earlier reports said there were 117 servicemen and five crew members on board.
The Interfax news agency quoted sources at the military headquarters as saying that about 80 servicemen were killed. The national Itar-tass, also citing a source there, put the death tollat 85.
The military headquarters said fire and smoke from the crash hampered efforts to determine the exact number of casualties.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered an exhaustive and objective probe into the accident and instructed Commander of the North Caucasus Military District Gennady Troshev to give all possible aid to those injured.
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, in a statement from the DefenseMinistry, also expressed his condolences to the relatives of the servicemen who were killed.
Sergei Fridinsky, a deputy prosecutor general, told Interfax that investigators were examining two main possible causes of the crash -- the helicopter was either shot down or suffered a technical problem.
Defense Ministry spokesman Nikolai Deryabin told the ORT state television earlier that the captain of the chopper reported an engine fire and said he was going to make an emergency landing before the accident.
Interfax quoted the helicopter's crew as saying that they hearda bang in the area of the right engine when the craft was at an altitude of between 180 and 200 meters and the "fire" indicator came on in the cockpit. The crew then decided to land, but the helicopter hit the ground and caught fire.
(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2002)
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