MOSCOW. June 7 (Interfax) - The death of eight paratroopers might have been caused by an abrupt change in weather conditions, the Russian Federal Forestry Agency (Rosleskhoz) said.
"This might have happened because of the abruptly changing weather conditions, and a totality of other factors such as the mountainous area and forest trash. Most likely, the fire went round underneath when the boys had already been on top of this fire and were about to 'behead' it, having come up from the rear," advisor to the forestry agency chief Nikolai Kovalyov told reporters on Thursday.
A Rosleskhoz commission is due to fly out to Tuva to investigate the tragedy in the very near future, he said.
"We are flying out for the investigation today and after that we shall be ready to report the commission's concrete conclusions as to the causes of this misfortune," Kovalyov said.
The Federal Forestry Agency has set up a special commission led by the agency's deputy chief, Yevgeny Trunov.
It was reported earlier that a major forest fire erupted on a 500-hectare area in the Barun-Khemchinsky district, 20 kilometers from the village lf Kara-Khol in Tuva's Bai-Taiginsky district on Wednesday. A group of 14 firefighting paratroopers were sent to the scene to tackle the fire, only six of them survived.
One of the victims, Sergei Paderin, a paratrooper from the Tuva forest protection air base, is in critical condition. He was airlifted to a republican hospital in Kyzyl.