A helicopter crash near a kindergarten outside Kyiv has reportedly killed 18 people, including three children, the police said. Ukraine’s interior minister, his deputy and another official were among those killed. Twenty two people, including 10 children, have been hospitalised.
Unverified footage circulating on social media showed what appeared to be the charred remains of the aircraft. Debris from nearby buildings and a car crushed by large shards of metal can also be seen.
Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, his first deputy minister, Yevgeniy Yenin, and several top officials of the interior ministry are among those dead, the head of Ukraine’s police service, Igor Klymenko, said in a statement.
“A helicopter of the state emergency service crashed in Brovary. As a result of the crash, the leadership of the interior ministry died,” Klymenko said. Monastyrsky, a 42-year-old father of two, had been appointed the interior minister in 2021.
Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser offered to provide assistance in investigating the helicopter crash and sent her condolences to the Ukrainian government.
While earlier reports suggested that 16 people had died, the Kyiv region’s governor, Oleksiy Kuleba, put the latest death toll at 18 people, including three children.
“There is information about 29 wounded, including 15 children. All necessary assistance is provided to them,” he added.
“Rescue operations are ongoing at the site”.
Officials said that children and employees were inside the school building at the time of the crash.
Earlier, Kuleba informed about the crash in a Telegram message.
“In the city of Brovary, a helicopter fell near a kindergarten and a residential building,” Kuleba said on Telegram. “Children and employees were in the kindergarten … there are casualties recorded.”
He said that medics and police were working at the scene.