THE bodies of two wealthy tourists and an ex-athlete were horrifically dragged away and eaten by bears after they died in a helicopter crash.
Former biathlon star Igor Malinovskii, 25, was piloting the Robinson chopper in Kamchatka, Russia, when it plummeted to the ground.
He had been flying with prominent businesswoman Zoya Kaygorodova, in her mid-30s, and Sergey Kolesnyak, 39, a mobile phone company executive at company Tele2.
The trio got into mortal trouble on July 16 while enjoying the elite tourist trip over the region, known for its bear-infested woodland.
They reportedly lost communication due to bad weather, before the helicopter is believed to have caught fire as it hurtled to the ground.
Rescue teams found the charred remains of the helicopter, named 'Nadezhda' or Hope, in the Valley of the Geysers a day later.
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But it seems brown bears found the lifeless trio first – as they reportedly hauled their corpses away and "gnawed" at them.
According to the 5TV channel, which cited local sources: "The remains of dead tourists after the crash of a Robinson helicopter in Kamchatka were dragged away by bears."
Kamchatka Territory's Governor Vladimir Solodiv confirmed the crash.
The human remains are now reported to have been found.
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The tourists had forked out a whopping £4,250 for the extravagant trip to Kamchatka, renowned for its bear-infested peninsula which is famous for its volcanoes and glaciers.
Zoya Kaygorodova was the organiser of the fateful trip.
She was a former manager at leading Russian retail names TsUM and Eldorado, before owning a hygiene products company.
Sanctions over the war in Ukraine has led to wealthy Russians exploring their own country rather than visiting popular Western destinations.
Malinovskii was a five-time junior world champion in biathlon but his career was stalled by the pandemic, according to reports.
He retrained as a pilot and was working for a company run by his father Vladimir Malinovskii, ferrying tourists to remote and spectacular sights in Kamchatka.
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The cause of the crash in poor weather is under investigation.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry said in a statement: "Unfortunately, none [of the three people on board] survived the crash."
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