A Russian helicopter with 22 people on board goes missing in the far east By Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian helicopter with three crew members and 19 passengers on board went missing east and west of Kamchatka, the emergency department said on Saturday.

The Mi-8T helicopter took off from an area near the Vachkazhets volcano and the crew failed to report at the scheduled time of 04:00 GMT, Interfax news agency reported, citing the federal air transport agency.

The emergency department said the search and rescue operation is hampered by heavy fog in the area.

Kamchatka, which is nine hours before Moscow, is a popular tourist destination, known for its clean rivers, geysers and volcanoes.