The ЕС-225 helicopter of the State Emergency Service with tail number 54 crashed in an accident in Brovary.

The State Emergency Service released the information on this.

The crash occurred at 8:20 am. As a result of the incident, a preschool educational institution was damaged. A 14-story apartment building and personal vehicles were also damaged.

A fire spread to an area of 500 square meters. The fire has already been extinguished.

9 people were on board the helicopter, namely six representatives of the operative group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including the Ministry’s leadership, as well as three crew members of the State Emergency Service.

Rescue efforts are ongoing at the site.

127 people and 30 units of equipment were involved. Psychologists of the State Emergency Service are also working at the accident site.

The Kyiv Regional Military Administration reported that as of 10:30 am, 18 dead were confirmed, 3 of them being children.

29 people, including 15 children, were injured.

Yurii Ihnat, Air Force Spokesman, stated during the national telemarathon that it is too early to discuss the causes of the disaster.

“The commission will investigate the causes of the disaster. It will not take 1 or 2 days because it takes some time to investigate an air catastrophe. I believe that a state commission will be assembled, which will include various aviation specialists. They will investigate the causes of what happened and what factors led to the helicopter to fall,” he said.

The Office of the Attorney General reported that investigators and experts are currently working on the crash site.

“To date, we are considering all possible versions of the helicopter accident. The pre-trial investigation was entrusted to SSU investigators,” the report said.

ЕС-225 with the tail number 54 was transferred to Ukraine in November 2020. This was the fifth one that Ukraine received through the Intergovernmental Agreement between Ukraine and France.

In general, Ukraine was supposed to receive 55 helicopters manufactured by Airbus for the unified aviation security and civil protection system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.