A helicopter crashed in Russia on Thursday killing all 15 people aboard, and initial reports said it had been on patrol with a contingent of firemen searching for forest fires.
The helicopter, an Mi-8, was carrying 12 passengers and three crew when it crashed in Siberia's oil-rich Tyumen region, two time zones east of Moscow.
"All 15 people are dead," an Emergencies Ministry spokesman said, without identifying them.
Itar-Tass news agency said all the passengers had been firemen. A second helicopter, also on patrol, had witnessed the accident.