Nine people were feared dead when a Russian helicopter carrying government officials and two tons of explosives crashed in the remote Siberian region of Irkutsk on Monday. According to dpa, the Mi-8 helicopter was carrying six Emergency Situations Ministry officials from the region and three crew members, the ministry said. The officials had planned to fight floods by blasting away ice that had caused local rivers to swell. Rescue workers spotted the wreckage and bodies, less than three hours after the helicopter failed to make radio contact, the Interfax news agency reported.
