Helicopter crash claims lives of 3 crew members in Russia's Buryatiya

A Mi-8 helicopter crashed at the airfield in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia, Russia, killing three crew members, TASS reports citing emergency services.

The incident took place near a gas station and  the helicopter was private, Interfax reports.

According to a TASS source, the Mi-8 crashed while landing at the Baikal airport in Ulan-Ude.

The helicopter caught fire as it crashed. As a result, three crew members died, there were no passengers on board. Emergency services are on site.

The head of Buryatia, Alexei Tsydenov, confirmed the crash on his Telegram channel. The message about the crash came at 15:20 local time (11:30 Moscow time), he said.

According to him, the aircraft plant has not yet handed over the helicopter to the customer, it was not in operation.

Later, TASS, citing a source, said that the crash could have occurred due to a fire in the helicopter engine.