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 PM Moscow time (12:30 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.

(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2005)