A Russian helicopter crashed Tuesday on a mission to airlift patients in the Far East region on Tuesday, killing at least two people aboard, news agencies reported.

The Mi-8 helicopter plummeted into the icy Amur River five minutes after taking off from Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, Viktor Beltsov, spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry, told Russian news agencies.

The helicopter, with three crewmembers aboard, was on a mission to pick up patients to a hospital in the town of Bogorodskoye.

Regional emergency officials said rescuers have found the bodies of two crewmembers and the other one is missing.

Preliminary reports said five people were killed in the crash.

The Mi-8, a Russian workhorse helicopter widely used in civilian aviation as well as by the military, crashes frequently in recent years, mostly due to poor maintenance and excessive age.

Source: Xinhua