Ukraine’s interior minister killed in helicopter crash: police

Lviv, Ukraine, Jan 18 (EFE).- Sixteen people, including Ukraine’s interior minister, were killed on Wednesday when a helicopter crashed near a kindergarten on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities have reported.

Denys Monastyrskyi’s aide, Yevhen Yenin, and a state secretary were also killed in the crash in the town of Brovary, according to a police report.

“As a result of the plane crash, the top leadership of the interior ministry died: the minister, the first deputy minister and the undersecretary,” head of the national police Ihor Klymenko said.

“According to the police chief, at the moment 16 people were confirmed dead, including two children, due to the crash of the aircraft. Of these, nine were on board the helicopter,” he added.

So far, 22 people, including 10 children, have been hospitalized.

Kyiv region Governor Oleksiy Kuleba earlier said on Telegram that a helicopter had crashed near a kindergarten and a residential building in Brovary but did not mention the number of deaths nor injuries.

“Children and workers of the institution were in the kindergarten at the moment of the tragedy. Everyone has been evacuated. There are victims,” he said at the time.EFE

int-lab-egw/smq/ch