Five killed, 11 survive helicopter crash in Sea of Okhotsk

The Mi-8 helicopter came down in Onchagan Bay in the Sea of Okhotsk near the Shantar Islands. The survivors swam in temperatures of 5C to the Tugur Peninsula where they received first aid at a nature reserve. The five who died are believed to have been trapped on the stricken helicopter. 

The director general of the VTB Leasing, Andrei Konoplev, and his deputies Nadezhda Fomenko and Anatoly Voronetsky were confirmed as being alive and not seriously injured after the accident. 

'We are in a constant contact with the emergencies services and are monitoring the situation,' said a company spokesman.

Crash site marked on the map, and three VTB Leasing top managers. Pictures: Vesti TV Russia, VTB Leasing

The cause of the crash was unknown but thick fog hampered rescuers seeking to reach the crash site. The helicopter captain Sergey Oshlakov used a satellite phone to  report the crash to aviation authorities, said reports.

The helicopter with 13 passengers and three crew members, took off from Polina Osipenko village at 3:45 pm (0545 GMT) and was due to land at 5:20 pm (0720 GMT) in the Lake Ongochan area, yet crashed in Ongochan Bay.

The group was led by a well-known local traveller Igor Olkhovsky, a source at the local law enforcement authorities told TASS on Saturday.

The rugged Shantar Islands are a group of fifteen islands located off the western shore of the Sea of Okhotsk. The archipelago is famed for its unique wild nature. 

A tour to the islands in a group of ten people for 12 days costs about $9,000 per person, reported TASS.