An avalanche smothered a landed helicopter on Russia's mountainous Kamtchatka peninsula on Saturday, leaving two crew and six German snowboard enthusiasts missing in the snow, DPA reported.
A party of 14 Germans had paid to be taken to the mountain slope in an Mi-8 helicopter. There are almost no roads in the wilderness areas of the peninsula on the Pacific coast. A search was to continue all night for the missing.
Among the survivors, one crewman and a German sportsman were in hospital in critical condition.
In Moscow, the Health Ministry said two teams of doctors flew to the accident site, 70 kilometres from the town of Yelisovo, the news agency Interfax reported. Another news agency, Itar Tass, reported there had been as many as 20 occupants in aircraft.
Kamchatka is attracting growing numbers of western tourists thanks to its splendid scenery with volcanoes, glaciers and lakes.
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