Copter crash at gas rig kills 20 workers
From Times Wire Reports
A helicopter belonging to Ukraine’s state gas company crashed as it tried to land on a Black Sea drilling platform, killing all 20 people aboard, officials said.
The Mi-8 helicopter went down about 40 miles offshore, said Valentyn Zemlyansky, a spokesman for the company, Naftogaz. The craft’s tail hit a support pole on the rig, and then the copter fell onto the rig and caught fire, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.
The passengers were mainly gas company employees headed for the rig.
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