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18th Jan 2023

Ukraine interior minister among 16 dead after helicopter crashes near Kyiv nursery

Charlie Herbert

Two children were also killed in the crash.

The Ukrainian interior minister, his deputy, and another official are among 16 people killed after an emergency services helicopter crashed near a nursery in the Kyiv region.

The governor of the Kyiv region said on Wednesday that a helicopter crashed near a nursery and a residential building earlier that day.

The chief of Ukraine’s National Police, Ihor Klymenko, confirmed that two children were also killed in the crash.

The minister, Denys Monastyrskiy, was with eight others in the helicopter. His deputy Eugene Yenin and state secretary Yurii Lubkovich also died in the crash.

A total of 22 people were injured, including 1o children, after the helicopter crashed in Brovary, Kyiv’s eastern suburb.

Footage shared on social media appears to show the helicopter wreckage outside a burning building.

Children and staff were moved from the kindergarten.

According to the BBC, it was dark and foggy at the time of the crash and initial reports suggest the helicopter hit the kindergarten before crashing close to a residential building.

The cause of the crash has not yet been established.

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