ROSTOV-ON-DON. March 18 (Interfax) - The Mi-8 helicopter that crashed killing three people at the Khankala military airfield in Chechnya on Saturday belonged to the Russian Border Service; prosecutors from the Southern Military District have started an investigation into the accident.
"The helicopter that burst into flames at the airfield belongs to the FSB's [Federal Security Service] Red Banner North Caucasus Border Department, and it arrived from Stavropol," Natif Gadzhimetov, a spokesman for the Southern Military District prosecutor's office, told Interfax on Saturday.
Gadzhimetov confirmed that three people were killed and one more injured and hospitalized.
Prosecutors are to determine whether the crash could have been caused by violations of flight safety rules, he said.