18 die in Russian copter crash in Siberia

Eighteen people were killed in a helicopter crash in the Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia on Saturday, the aviation watchdog and emergency services said. The passengers, workers heading to their shift at an oil-pumping station, and three crew members died when the Russian-made Mi-8 aircraft knocked into the cargo of an adjacent helicopter as both were completing take-off, watchdog Rosaviatsia said. The incident occurred in the Vankor Field area in eastern Siberia, the watchdog said, at around 0200 GMT. Vankor is the region's largest oil field, operated by Russian oil company Rosneft. — Reuters