Ukraine’s interior minister has died in a helicopter crash.
16 other people, including two children were killed in the crash that happened near a kindergarten outside the capital Kyiv, officials said Wednesday.
In a video that circulated online from the aftermath of the incident, cries could be heard at the scene which was consumed by a fire.
There were no immediate details on the cause of the crash.
“In total, 16 people are currently known to have died,” the head of national police, Igor Klymenko, said.
Among the dead are several top officials of the interior ministry including Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky and his first deputy minister, Yevgeniy Yenin, he said. Monastyrsky, a 42-year-old father of two, was appointed interior minister in 2021.
Twenty two people were hospitalised including 10 children.
Officials said that at the time of the crash children and employees were in the kindergarten.
Medics and police were working at the scene.
The scene of the crash in the town of Brovary is located some 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of Kyiv.
