A helicopter of Ukraine’s state gas company has crashed on Monday as it tried to land on a Black Sea drilling platform in which 20 people killed. The Mi-8 helicopter went down around 05:00 pm about 70 kilometres offshore.

The craft hit a support pole on the rig with its tail then fell onto the rig and caught fire. The ministry said that 19 people were died at the spot & another died later of injuries. The passengers were mainly gas company employees who were headed for the rig.

The Mi-8 is a workhorse helicopter used widely in civilian aviation and the military in the former Soviet Union. Crashes occur frequently and are often blamed on poor maintenance and excessive age.