‘The tail is broken, the rest of the fuselage is intact,’ Solodov told the Russia 24 television channel.

The governor explained that 15 rescuers and three submersibles from the Ministry of Defense are working at the site with the aim of recovering the aircraft.

The Vityaz-Aero company helicopter carrying 16 people, 13 of which were passengers, crashed into the Kuril Lake on Thursday, in the Kronotsky nature reserve, on the Russian Kamchatka peninsula. Eight people were rescued and another eight are still missing.

The Russian authorities opened a criminal case for the accident. A technical failure was detected in the aircraft during the flight and the crew decided to make an emergency landing in dense fog, according to the Interfax news agency.

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