80 killed as helicopter crashes into minefield
Chechen rebels claimed they shot down the Mi-26 helicopter near the Russian military headquarters at Khankala, not far from Grozny.
Russian officials initially insisted there were no deaths and the crash was down to engine fire.
Later they said there were deaths but they did not know how many and it was unclear whether the helicopter was shot down or suffered a technical problem.
Deputy prosecutor general Sergei Fridinsky said there were dozens of dead and wounded and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov expressed his condolences to relatives of the servicemen who were killed. He did not provide any numbers.
However, Interfax and ITAR-Tass reported at least 80 soldiers were killed, citing sources at the headquarters.
Fridinsky said the flight list indicated there were 127 passengers and five crew members on board the Mi-26, which was flying to Khankala from a base in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia. He said the helicopter fell into a minefield
That number of passengers would have seriously overloaded the twin engined helicopter, which has capacity for 82 people.
The 108 ft long Mi-26 can carry 20 tons of cargo. The interior is about the same size as a Hercules C-130 military transport aircraft.
Fridinsky said investigators were examining two main possible causes of the crash that the aircraft , the largest troop transport helicopter in the world, was shot down or suffered a technical problem.
Colonel Boris Podoprigora, the deputy commander of Russian troops in Chechnya, said all five crew members survived.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an investigation into the cause of the crash.
