A helicopter carrying tourists crashed near a volcano in Russia’s Far East at the weekend, killing at least 17 people, according to emergency officials. 

Governor of the Kamchatka region, Vladimir Solodov, who confirmed the incident, said the helicopter was flying 22 passengers including crew members before it crashed. 

Mr Solodov explained that the helicopter had taken off near the region’s Vachkazhets volcano – a tourist attraction in the remote Kamchatka Peninsula, heading towards the village of Nikolaevka when it crashed. 

He said the wreckage of the plane, an Mi-8 had been found, adding that “we are doing everything possible to get specialists to the scene as quickly as we can.”

A rescue team that found the wreckage said 17 bodies were discovered from when the helicopter’s crew had last made contact. 

Emergency services informed the state news agency, Tass, that based on the condition of the wreckage, no survivors were expected. 

An inquiry has been opened into the possible violations of traffic safety and air transport rules in the weekend’s crash, according to the region’s investigative agency. 

In 2021, the company operating the helicopter, Vityaz-Aero, was reprimanded by the authorities over the crash into the Kamchatka crater lake, the state-owned media reported.