MOSCOW (AP) — Authorities in Russia's province of Chechnya say that at least three people have died in a helicopter crash in the North Caucasus mountains.

Local authorities say in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that the Mi-8 helicopter belonging to the border guards went down Wednesday in the Itum-Kale region of southern Chechnya, near the border with Georgia.

Officials said the helicopter crashed in thick fog after its rotor clipped a mountainside while preparing to land. Rescuers have found one survivor and recovered three bodies. It was believed that several other people were on board, and they are still missing.

The twin-engine Mi-8 has been a mainstay of Soviet and Russian aviation since the late 1960s and also has been widely used worldwide.