Igor Blinov, chief of the air company's public relations and advertisement department, told RIA Novosti over the phone that the helicopter was carrying 24 persons including 21 passengers and three Russian crew members.
According to him, the helicopter hit the ground in the area to the south-east of the town of Engem. "Visual inspection of the accident site showed that the helicopter lay on the ground, a lot of trees were fallen and fire burst out", said Mr. Blinov.
The company's spokesman emphasized that it was too early to speak about casualties. "However, there must be some", said Mr. Blinov.
He pointed out that the crashed helicopter was almost as good as new.
"After overhaul the helicopter has flown only 200 hours. The aircraft's total flight time amounts to 2,000 hours", said the air company's spokesman.
The Russian air company operates in Sierra-Leone under the contract with the UN mission in that African country.
The MI-8 was carrying the peacekeeping mission's employees and the UTair company's representatives.
