on-don, March 11, SPA -- The toll from the crash of a Russian military helicopter in Chechnya has risen to 15 servicemen, the regional branch of the Emergency Situations ministry said Friday. Fifteen of the 16 Russian servicemen on board the Mi-8 helicopter died in the crash Thursday near the Chechen capital, Grozny, and another was seriously wounded, a ministry spokesman said. The previous death toll stood at 14. The Interfax news agency quoted a source close to the investigation as saying that investigators had found rotor blades damaged by wires at the scene _ confirming a preliminary theory that the helicopter did not come under hostile fire but crashed after hitting a power line.
