KHABAROVSK/YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK. Nov 2 (Interfax-AVN) - A Mil Mi-8 helicopter owned by the border guard department of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has crashed near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, a spokesman for the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Far East military district told Interfax on Tuesday.
"Following the crash of the helicopter, the district Military Prosecutor's Office is investigating whether flight rules were followed," the spokesman said.
For his part, a Sakhalin region administration source told Interfax that all those on board the helicopter are believed to have been killed in the accident.
"The preliminary information available to us suggests that there were three crewmembers aboard [the helicopter]. The body of one of them has already been found," the source said.
A source in law enforcement services has confirmed to Interfax that the helicopter crashed in a forested area about 600 meters from the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk-Korsakov motorway at around 8:00 p.m. local time.
"The circumstances surrounding the helicopter crash are unknown. The preliminary information available to us confirms that it exploded upon contact with the ground. The number of people aboard the helicopter is not known. Presumably, it carried three or four people. All of them are believed to have been killed," the source said.
Investigators are working at the scene.