Four dead in Russian helicopter crash

A Russian military helicopter crashed shortly after take-off in Chechnya today, killing four servicemen and injuring 11 others.

The Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Kurchaloi region south of Gudermes, Chechnya’s second-largest city, while carrying out a complicated steep manoeuvre.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

In nearly four years of fighting Russian forces, separatist Chechen rebels have shot down several military helicopters, including one that was struck just outside the main military base at Khankala, killing 119 servicemen.