NATO confirms 16 dead as Russian helicopter crashes in Afghanistan

A civilian helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 16 civilians and injuring five, Nato officials have confirmed to the BBC News.

The helicopter crashed at Kandahar airfield as it was trying to take off, though Nato has ruled out the involvement of insurgents, the corporation writes.

Russia's Interfax agency quoted a spokesman for Russia's Federal Air Transportation Agency (Fata) as saying the aircraft was a Russian-built Mi-8 transport helicopter.

Fata said it was owned by the Russian air company Vertical-T.

The nationalities of the dead people are not yet known.

A statement from Nato's International Security Assistance Force said, "A civilian contracted helicopter crashed during take-off from Kandahar airfield.

"Emergency personnel are on the scene. There was no indication of the cause of the accident but insurgent action has been ruled out."

Nato spokeswoman, Lieutenant-Commander Sam Truelove, told AFP it had been confirmed that all the dead were civilians and no military personnel were involved.

Kandahar airfield is Nato's largest air base in southern Afghanistan but the BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says a lot of civilian aircraft fly in and out so there is no surprise this was a civilian crash.

The condition of the injured was not known, Truelove said.