Russian rescue teams today found four survivors including a teenage boy when they finally reached the wreckage of a helicopter that crashed in the nearly impassable taiga of eastern Siberia the day before.
Three people have already been evacuated from the crash site, a spokesman for the emergencies ministry said, adding that the fourth survivor was a teenage boy who is believed to have a broken spine.
Voronov could not immediately identify the first three survivors, saying they could be the crew members.
An MI-8 helicopter carrying three crew members and 25 passengers including 11 children crashed yesterday in the northern Yakutia region when it was apparently pushed to the ground by a downward stream of air.
Aviation officials said, citing the survivors, that 19 people had died although the emergencies ministry is refusing to give casualty figures. The emergencies ministry said that the search was continuing.
