MOSCOW – Russia’s Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev has died while saving the life of a cameraman during a large-scale Arctic civil defence exercise.
The 55-year-old, who was one of the key members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s security detail, died in the Norilsk area.
Russian media reports said that a cameraman slipped from the edge of a cliff and fell into the water when Zinichev rushed to save the man and lost his life after hitting a protruding rock. The cameraman named Alexander Malnik also died.
A cameraman had fallen off a cliff during an interview, according to Margarita Simonyan, the head of Russian broadcaster RT.
Reports said that the accident happened at the Kitabo Oron waterfall in the Putorana nature reserve in northern Siberia, some 165km (100 miles) west of Norilsk.
Zinichev had been given the portfolio of emergencies minister in 2018.
