A tourist helicopter with 16 people on board has crashed into a lake in Russia’s Far East, officials say.

There were eight known survivors, Russian media quoted emergencies ministry officials as saying.

Thirteen tourists, including a child, and three crew were on board when the Mi-8 crashed and sank in the Kuril Lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Emergencies ministry rescuers and divers have been sent to the area to search for those still unaccounted for.

The helicopter belonging to the Vityaz-Aero company is reportedly lying at a depth of 100 metres (330 feet) in the lake.

According to preliminary information, the aircraft was travelling from the village of Nikolayevka to the Kuril Lake and the Khodutka volcano when it crashed, the emergencies ministry said.