Ukraine helicopter crash: What we know so far

At least 15 people, including Ukraine’s interior minister, have been killed after a helicopter crashed in a suburb of the capital, Kyiv, according to Ukrainian emergency services.

Three children were among the dead and more than 20 others wounded in Wednesday’s incident were being treated in hospital, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) said. A local official had earlier put the death toll at 18.There was no immediate official statement on the cause of the crash. Russia, which invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago, has yet to comment.

Where did the helicopter crash?

The helicopter came down at about 8:20am local time (06:20 GMT) near a nursery and residential building in the town of Brovary, on the Ukrainian capital’s northeastern outskirts.

Videos shared on social media showed a burning building at the purported location where the helicopter came down. People could be heard screaming in the footage.Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said the helicopter – which belonged to Ukraine’s emergency services – was flying towards frontline positions in the country’s east when it crashed.

How many people were killed?

The SESU said in a Facebook post that nine people had been on board the helicopter in total. It was not immediately clear if any of the passengers had survived.

In total, 15 people were confirmed to have been killed as of 11:00am local time (09:00 GMT), the SESU said. The death toll included three children, it added.

Who was on board?

Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyy, his deputy Yevhen Yenin and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yurii Lubkovych were among thosetravelling on the helicopter.

All three were killed in the crash, according to Ukraine’s national police chief Ihor Klymenko.

Monastyrskyy was in charge of the Ukrainian police and other emergency services.