A helicopter has crashed into a house and exploded into a huge fireball leaving four defence plant workers dead.
Horror footage shows the wreckage of the Ka-226 chopper as it burns before firefighters arrived at the scene desperately trying to extinguish the flames.
The helicopter was flying from one town in Dagestan to another when it went down near the coast of the Caspian Sea, according to a statement by the Emergency Situations Ministry.
The aircraft struck an unoccupied private house, which was destroyed in the resulting fire, the state-run news agency TASS cited emergency service sources as saying.
Emergency crews have since contained the blaze.
TASS sources identified the aircraft as the Ka-226 transport helicopter operated by the Kizlyar Electromechanical Plant and which was said not to be carrying tourists, contrary to earlier reports.
The helicopter was carrying senior staff from Kizlyar Electromechanical Plant in Russia on Friday when it crashed and burned.
It smashed into a private house in the village of Achi-Su in southern region of Dagestan with all four people on board “burning to death”.
All three passengers and a pilot were pulled from the wreckage but died from their injuries, Dagestani Health Minister Yaroslav Glazov confirmed.
The Kizlyar Electromechanical Plant is known for making ground control and diagnostic systems and equipment for Sukhoi and MiG attack aircraft but has been sanctioned over the war in Ukraine.
Russian investigators have opened a criminal case into the crash on charges of violating aviation safety rules.
Authorities are examining technical failure as a potential cause, while other explanations are also being considered.
The aircraft involved reportedly belonged to staff at the Kizlyar Electromechanical Plant, a major military manufacturer known for producing ground control and diagnostic systems for Sukhoi and MiG attack aircraft.
The plant has been sanctioned by Western nations over its role in supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Russian investigators said they are exploring technical malfunction as the most likely cause of the crash.
State news agency TASS reported: “A technical failure is being considered the main version of what caused the incident.”