The first known survivor has been evacuated via a helicopter and hospitalized in serious condition, Vadim Grebennikov, the spokesman of the Emergencies Ministry’s Urals regional center told TASS.
“Rescuers have landed at the crash-landing site in Yamal. They evacuated the injured passenger who has been communicating with them all this time. He is being taken to a hospital in Urengoy,” he said.
The search for survivors in the wreckage is ongoing and it is too early to say what the death toll is, Grebennikov added.
Meanwhile, a source quoted by TASS said that two more people with signs of life have been found on the site, while 19 others are believed to be dead.
Two black boxes of the Mi-8 have been found by rescue teams “in good condition,” a source told RIA Novosti.
Reports from the ground say that the helicopter was badly damaged upon landing and fell onto its side, but did not explode.
Earlier, a survivor of the crash reached the rescuers via a cell phone. The man said he was trapped in the wreckage.
Two rescue helicopters with paramedics and emergency workers have been dispatched to the site, with a total of 140 people now involved in the operation.
Poor visibility is being reported on the ground.
Reports of the Mi-8 helicopter crash-landing 80 kilometers northwest of the settlement of Urengoy came in late Friday local time. The helicopter, belonging to the Skol air company, was flying to the Suzumskoye oil and gas field in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region, TASS reported.
