Russian authorities says the governor of the Siberian region of Irkutsk has been killed in a helicopter crash. News reports say four others also died.
An emergency ministry official says the wreckage of the US-made Bell helicopter in which Igor Yesipovsky was traveling was found Sunday around 90km away from the regional capital, Irkutsk.
Russian news agency ITAR-TASS said the Siberian Federal District emergency services ministry reported that five people were killed in the accident.
Yesipovsky hadbeen acting as governor of the sprawling energy-rich Irkutsk region since April 2008. He became the first governor to head the enlarged Irkutsk region after it merged with a much smaller autonomous district.