A TV grab shows Russian Interior Ministry soldiers carrying a victim of a military helicopter crash, south from Chechen capital of Grozny, March 10, 2005. Death toll has reached 15 with another injured, Interfax news agency cited a local military source as reporting. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    MOSCOW, March 11 (Xinhuanet) -- The death toll in Thursday's Russian Mi-8 helicopter crash in Chechnya rose to 15, the Interfax reported on Friday.

    Among the dead were seven Federal Security Service (FSB) officers.

    The Mi-8 military helicopter, en route from the North Ossetian town of Beslan to Khankala, crashed in Chechnya's Urus-Martan district at about 4:30 p.m. Moscow time (1230 GMT) because of "technical problems."

    Earlier the Itar-Tass news agency, citing Interior Ministry spokesman Ruslan Apayev, said that the accident claimed at least 12 human lives and injured another two.

    There was no evidence of the helicopter being shot down, the spokesman said. Enditem