Some 40 boats join effort to search for missing Russian Mi-8 helicopter

Rescuers have resumed the search for the Mi-8 helicopter that went missing on July 3 in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, in the central part of the West Siberian Plain, the Emergencies Ministry said.

A total of 40 boats with echo sounders are searching the water area of the Ob River and three helicopters are involved in the air search, the ministry’s press service has told TASS.

"The weather allows us to work on the water, and we will search every square of the Ob River with the hope to find some traces of the missing craft," the press service said.

The search on the ground has been suspended. "Now the focus is on the search in the water area. The overall area of the search for the helicopter is 8,200 square kilometers," the ministry said.

The Mi-8 helicopter departed from Nizhnevartovsk for Surgut overnight to July 3 but failed to arrive on time. Three crew members and two doctors were onboard the helicopter that was traveling back after airlifting a two-year-old girl for an urgent surgery.