Russia: 15 dead as helicopter crashes in Siberian river's freezing waters

At least 15 people were killed in a helicopter crash in a remote region of Russia. The aircraft carrying workers to an isolated oil and gas field in eastern Siberia went down in the freezing waters of the Yenisei River.

There were 22 passengers and three crew members were on board as the helicopter took off from the town of Igarka in the Krasnoyarsk region and headed for the Vankor field operated by Vankorneft, a subsidiary of state oil company Rosneft.

"At the moment, 15 people have been killed and 10 people are in intensive care, one is being retrieved from the destroyed fuselage of the helicopter," local transport official Oksana Gorbunova told TASS news agency.

The Mi-8 helicopter experienced problems shortly after taking off, crashing just a couple of kilometres from the departing airport. Causes for the incident are being investigated.