Planes with rescuers on board are searching for the helicopter that disappeared on the Taimyr peninsula

The cargo An-74 plane flew from Krasnoyarsk airport on Tuesday morning to search for the helicopter Mi-6 which had disappeared on the Taimyr peninsula in Eastern Siberia beyond the Polar Circle.

The plane carries fourteen rescuers of the Emergencies Ministry and the equipment, including space communication apparatus, necessary for searches in the Arctic.

Another group of rescuers on board the An-26 military plane has flown from Norilsk.

As the Siberian regional centre of the Emergencies Ministry reported, no contact has so far been established with the missing helicopter.

On Wednesday morning, the Mi-26 with eight crewmen, thirteen passengers and three tons of cargo left Valek airport, Norilsk, but in two hours and a half it did not land in the place of its destination - the township of Eklips on the Arctic shore. The causes of the incident are not yet known.