Ukraine Interior Minister Among 18 Dead in Helicopter Crash
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A helicopter crashed into a building in the city of Brovary, outside the Ukrainian capital on Monday morning, killing the Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyy, his deputy and a state secretary who were said to be headed to the front line on a visit.
According to Ukrainian police, 18 people were killed in the crash, including three children. Nine of them were on board.
Twenty nine victims of the accident were injured, 15 of them are children, Kyiv regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.
Earlier, Oleksiy Kuleba said, "In Brovary a helicopter has crashed next to a nursery and residential building."
"Children and the employees of the kindergarten were there at the moment of the tragedy," he said, adding that they have since been evacuated.
Officials gave no immediate account of the cause of the crash, though as an investigation is underway.
According to the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the helicopter that Ukraine's interior minister was travelling was flying towards frontline regions in eastern Ukraine.
"The purpose of the helicopter flight was to carry out work in one of the hotspots of our country where hostilities are ongoing. The interior minister was heading there," Tymoshenko, said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described a fatal helicopter crash as "a terrible tragedy".
"Today, a terrible tragedy occurred in Brovary, Kyiv region. A SES (state emergency services) helicopter crashed, and a fire broke out at the crash site. The pain is unspeakable," he said in a statement on social media.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the death of Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyy and two other senior officials was a "great loss" for the country.
"My sincere condolences to the families of all the victims. I instructed (officials) to immediately create a special group for a detailed investigation of all the circumstances of the tragedy," Shmyhal said on Telegram.
EU chief Charles Michel also offered his condolences. "We join Ukraine in grief following the tragic helicopter accident," the president of the European Council said, in a message posted to social media.
This article first appeared on DW.
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