Kazakhstan Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Bozhko. Photo by Yaroslav Radlovskiy©
Kazakhstan Emergency Situations Ministry is working out various versions and reasons of helicopter disappearance in Almaty oblast, Tengrinews.kz reports citing Minister Vladimir Bozhko. “The total area of the search is 24 thousand square meters in the area of possible disappearance of the helicopter. The search involves helicopters of the Emergency Situations Ministry, two helicopters of the near-border service, a helicopter of Euro-Asia Air. All the Ministry’s forces are involved in the search, the command headquarters has been set in Usharal region. Fire, water-rescue and search forces are involved as well. Citizens of all villages in the area are being questioned. The operation involves prosecutors and police; we are asking them questions to find out of anyone saw that helicopter. We are searching the whole territory where the helicopter can possibly be. We are unable to make the search more localized right now,” the Minister told the journalists after the government meeting. “Starting from today we are involving echosounders and will start barraging on small boats but this is possible only on the lake itself. What complicates the search is that the small lakes are frozen already. Alakol is covered with slush ice and the weather has gotten bad yesterday in Usharal. You know, the situations is quite complicated there, but the search continues,” Bozhko said. He also said that the Ministry is working out all versions of disappearance of the helicopter. “All versions: technical failure, weather, accident. We are working out all versions. The local search has failed, we are continuing the search,” Minister said. Bozhko said that the search for the missing helicopter did not spread out to the territory of China. “You know that the border regime with China is quite strict. We have no information that the air space regime was violated,” he said. The helicopter took off on November 24 at 08.30 to fly over the Usharal-Dostyk section of the Atasu – Alashankow oil pipeline. At 12.30 the same day the contact with the helicopter was lost. By Renat Tashkinbayev
Kazakhstan Emergency Situations Ministry is working out various versions and reasons of helicopter disappearance in Almaty oblast, Tengrinews.kz reports citing Minister Vladimir Bozhko.
“The total area of the search is 24 thousand square meters in the area of possible disappearance of the helicopter. The search involves helicopters of the Emergency Situations Ministry, two helicopters of the near-border service, a helicopter of Euro-Asia Air. All the Ministry’s forces are involved in the search, the command headquarters has been set in Usharal region. Fire, water-rescue and search forces are involved as well. Citizens of all villages in the area are being questioned. The operation involves prosecutors and police; we are asking them questions to find out of anyone saw that helicopter. We are searching the whole territory where the helicopter can possibly be. We are unable to make the search more localized right now,” the Minister told the journalists after the government meeting.
“Starting from today we are involving echosounders and will start barraging on small boats but this is possible only on the lake itself. What complicates the search is that the small lakes are frozen already. Alakol is covered with slush ice and the weather has gotten bad yesterday in Usharal. You know, the situations is quite complicated there, but the search continues,” Bozhko said.
He also said that the Ministry is working out all versions of disappearance of the helicopter.
“All versions: technical failure, weather, accident. We are working out all versions. The local search has failed, we are continuing the search,” Minister said.
Bozhko said that the search for the missing helicopter did not spread out to the territory of China.
“You know that the border regime with China is quite strict. We have no information that the air space regime was violated,” he said.
The helicopter took off on November 24 at 08.30 to fly over the Usharal-Dostyk section of the Atasu – Alashankow oil pipeline. At 12.30 the same day the contact with the helicopter was lost.
By Renat Tashkinbayev