Tourist helicopter crashes in Russian crater lake; eight missing

MOSCOW: A helicopter carrying tourists plunged into a deep volcanic crater lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East early Thursday, and rescue workers were searching in the lake for up to eight people missing, officials said. At least eight others reportedly survived.

The Mi-8 helicopter sank in Kurile Lake, which was formed in a volcano caldera and crater and is located in the Kronotsky nature reserve. The water temperature in the lake was 5-6 degrees Celsius (41-42.8 F), and the survivors had to swim about 9 meters (29.5 feet) up to the surface from the sinking helicopter, spokespeople for the reserve said.