Wind, rain make search for missing Russian helicopter with 22 aboard difficult, officials says

More than 60 people were battling heavy winds and rains on Sunday searching for a Russian helicopter that went missing the day before with 22 aboard in the far eastern peninsula of Kamchatka, the emergencies ministry said.

Seven groups of emergency rescuers, rangers and volunteers were dispatched to try to locate the Mi-8T helicopter that took off from a base near the Vachkazhets volcano, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Kamchatka Peninsula, some 7,100 kms (4,400 miles) east of Moscow, has been hit by a cyclone over the weekend, with rain expected to ease slightly only towards the end of Sunday, the ministry and the region’s meteorology services said on Telegram.

“The search has not yielded any results so far,” Russia’s RIA state news agency reported, citing Sergei Lebedev, the emergency minister for the Kamchatka region.

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“The road is extremely difficult. It is possible to move by foot only.”

He added that the slopes of the mountain range in the search area are covered with dwarf pine and trees, making it impossible to use equipment.