Moscow, Aug 27: Thousands of mourners lined up today to pay last tributes to TBE Governor of Sakhalin province in the Russian far east and other victims of last week's helicopter crash that killed all 20 people on board. Gov. Igor Farkhutdinov and many of his administration's senior officials died last Wednesday when their Mi-8 helicopter crashed on the Kamchatka peninsula. Investigators said the crash followed a risky maneuver during a dangerously low flight in deep fog.
President Vladimir Putin attended the funeral ceremony in the provincial capital of Yuzhnosakhalinsk, hailing Farhutdinov's achievements and offering condolences to his widow.
Putin joined thousands of people who laid flowers on the coffins on Yuzhnosakhalinsk's main square. The burial followed a three-day official mourning in the Sakhalin province.
The crash that killed Farhutdinov closely resembled another helicopter crash which killed Krasnoyarsk region Gov. Alexander Lebed, one of the top Russian politicians, in April 2002. Bureau Report