Tourist helicopter crashes into Russian lake

Emergencies ministry rescuers and divers have been sent to the area

A tourist helicopter with 16 people on board has crashed into a lake in Russia's Far East, officials say.

There were eight known survivors, Russian media quoted emergencies ministry officials as saying.

Thirteen tourists, including a child, and three crew were on board when the Mi-8 crashed and sank in Kurile Lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The helicopter is lying at a depth of 137 metres (450ft) - too deep for divers to operate, the officials say.

The aircraft belonging to the Vityaz-Aero company crashed about 700 metres from the shore, the emergencies ministry said, adding that specialist deep-water equipment was expected to arrive shortly.

Tourist Viktor Stvolkin, one of the survivors, later gave a dramatic account of how he had managed to escape from the sinking aircraft.

He was quoted by Russia's Ria Novosti news agency saying that he was asleep during the flight and only woke up when "the water hit my face in a stream".

"My friend's son was sitting next to me. He was fastened with seat belts, and I did not have time to pull him [free]. I only managed to unfasten myself."

Mr Stvolkin added that he had managed to escape through the cockpit's smashed window from a depth of about eight or nine metres.

A search and rescue operation is continuing on the Kuril Lake

According to preliminary information, the aircraft was travelling from the village of Nikolayevka to the Kuril Lake and the Khodutka volcano when it crashed, the emergencies ministry said.

The Mi-8 - a medium twin-turbine helicopter - was carrying tourists from Moscow and St Petersburg, Ria Novosti reported.

The mountainous Kamchatka peninsula - more than 6,000 km (3,730 miles) east of Moscow - is popular among tourists.

In July, all 28 people on board an aircraft died in a crash on the peninsula.