Investigators Find Piece of Missile Launcher Likely to Have Hit Mi-26 Helicopter

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 21, 2002

Investigators Find Piece of Missile Launcher Likely to Have Hit Mi-26 Helicopter

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Russian Deputy Prosecutor-General Sergei Fridinsky confirmed on Wednesday that a piece of a shoulder-fired missile launcher with which the Mi-26 helicopter could have been shot down had been discovered.

"A used barrel of a missile launcher has been discovered not far from the crash scene. Experts will establish when the missile launcher was exactly used," the Interfax news agency quoted Fridinsky as saying.

The large Mi-26 helicopter, jammed with servicemen and five crew members, went down near the Russian military headquarters at Khankala outside Grozny on Monday, resulting in what Russian media called the country's biggest military air disaster.

The death toll from the disaster has reached 115, sources from a military hospital of the North Caucasus Military District revealed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree designating Aug. 22 as the Day of Mourning for victims in the crash.

Flight recorders are being analyzed, but "it is so far hard to say what actually happened to the helicopter," Fridinsky said.

He added that officials involved in the incident have already been questioned. "If their negligence is established, criminal charges will be filed against them," he said.

When asked about media reports that separatists have claimed responsibility for the crash, Fridinsky said, "If these people claim responsibility for this crime, law-enforcement agencies must duly react to such statements."

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