Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine's inside minister was amongst at the very least 17 folks, together with two youngsters, killed when a helicopter crashed close to a kindergarten outdoors the capital of Kyiv, officers stated Wednesday.
In a video that circulated on-line from the aftermath of the incident, cries may very well be heard on the scene, which was consumed by a fireplace.
There have been no speedy particulars on the reason for the crash or whether or not it was an accident or stemmed from Ukraine's battle towards Russia.
The Related Press quotes Ihor Klymenko, chief of Ukraine's Nationwide Police, as saying Inside Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, his deputy Yevhen Yenin and State Secretary of the Ministry of Inner Affairs Yurii Lubkovych have been among the many lifeless.
9 of these killed have been aboard the emergency companies helicopter, the AP stated.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in an announcement on social media that the crash was "a horrible tragedy."
"The ache is unspeakable," he added.
Monastyrsky, a 42-year-old father of two, was appointed inside minister in 2021. He is probably the most senior Ukrainian official to lose his life since Russia invaded Ukraine 11 months in the past, in response to the Reuters information service.
Twenty-two folks have been hospitalized, together with 10 youngsters.
Officers stated that on the time of the crash that youngsters and staff have been within the kindergarten.
Medics and police have been working on the scene, within the city of Brovary some 12 miles northeast of Kyiv.
Russian and Ukrainian forces fought for management of Brovary within the early levels of Moscow's invasion till Russia's troops withdrew in early April.
Russian President Vladimir Putin despatched troops into pro-Western Ukraine on February 24 final 12 months.
The crash got here on the heels of a tragedy that noticed 45 folks, together with six youngsters, die when a Russian missile struck a residential constructing within the jap metropolis of Dnipro over the weekend.