Wreckage of helicopter found in eastern Russia; all 22 occupants died

Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The wreckage of a Russian helicopter carrying 22 people that went missing in the country's far east on Saturday was found Sunday, Russia's Emergencies Ministry announced.

None of the occupants survived, emergency services told Russian state media TASS on Sunday .

Seventeen bodies were found by Sunday evening local time, the ministry said.

The Mi-8 helicopter , owned by Vityaz-Aero, had just taken off near the Vachkazhets ancient volcano in the Kamchatka peninsula and was traveling to the village of Nikolayevka eastward about 16 miles away, TASS reported .

The helicopter crashed into a hill while flying in poor conditions, TASS reported. Low visibility, drizzle and fog were observed in the Kamchatka region where the helicopter was flying, TASS said.

Contact was lost with the helicopter at 4:15 p.m. local time Saturday, Kamchatka Gov. Vladimir Solodov said in a

"According to preliminary data, the cause was crew error. In conditions of poor visibility, the helicopter crashed into a hill," a source from the Emergencies Ministry told TASS.

The crew did not report any malfunctions to the aircraft, operational services said.

More than 60 specialists were searching while a cyclone was in effect, with fog and rain complicating their efforts.

Kamchatka peninsula is 3,728 miles east of Moscow and 1,242 miles west of Alaska.

The Mi-8 is a twin-engine helicopter designed in the 1960s.