MOSCOW, April 29: Alexander Lebed, former Russian presidential candidate and one-time peacemaker in Chechnya, died on Sunday when his helicopter crashed in Siberia after hitting a power line.

Seven other people also died along with Lebed, governor of Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region, when their Mi-8 helicopter crashed after flying into an electric line near the region’s Lake Olskoye in poor visibility.

Eleven other people on board sustained serious injuries and were being treated in a hospital at the nearby town of Abakan.

The death of Lebed, a charismatic figure whose dry wit and brusque, no-nonsense style set him apart from most of the familiar faces of Moscow’s political elite, came as a shock to Russians from all walks of life.—AFP