3 killed as missing chopper found crashed in Russia's Siberia

MOSCOW, Sept 3 (Xinhua) -- The debris of a helicopter that went missing Sunday was found along with the bodies of all three people on board in a forest, the Siberian regional division of the Russian Emergencies Ministry said Monday.

Rescuers have reached the site of the crash in a forest in the Irkutsk region and found the debris of the Mi-8 as well as three bodies, the ministry said in a statement.

The helicopter had taken off from Ust-Kut town Sunday morning to conduct an aerial survey. Communications with the crew were lost three hours later.

An interdepartmental commission will investigate the cause of the crash, the statement said.