A helicopter crashed Wednesday morning near a kindergarten on the outskirts of kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and Ukrainian police reported 16 dead, including Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky and two children.
The deputy interior minister and the secretary of state who were on board the helicopter also lost their lives, according to the police report.
"In the city of Brovary (in the east of kyiv), a helicopter crashed near a kindergarten and a residential building (...) There are victims," the deputy head of the presidential administration, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported on Telegram. , citing regional authorities.
For his part, the governor of the region, Oleksiy Kuleba, specified: "The information about the victims and the circumstances" of this accident are "being prepared."
Ambulances, police and fire brigade were already working on the scene.
"At the time of the drama, there were children and employees at the kindergarten," Kuleba said.
"Right now, everyone is evacuated," he added, without giving further details about possible victims among minors.
A Ukrainian police spokeswoman for the kyiv region, quoted by Suspilné public television, said for her part that "a fire broke out" at the time of the tragedy.
As the minutes passed, Ihor Klymenko, head of the National Police, explained that nine of the deceased were traveling aboard the emergency services helicopter.
In total, 22 people were injured, including 10 children.
The accident took place in Brovary, a city of about 100,000 inhabitants on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital.
News in development.
With agency information.
IS
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