MOSCOW -- Five people were killed when a small helicopter crashed in the Nizhny Novgorod region in central Russia, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Thursday.

"All five people aboard the Eurocopter have died," Interfax news agency quoted the ministry's representative as saying.

The helicopter took off from the Seliport airfield in Moscow region at 15:00 local time (1200 GMT) with four passengers, including the pilot's spouse and daughter.

The reason for the crash is not immediately clear.

The pilot informed the tower he was descending three minutes before the scheduled arrival at the Likeevo airport, but the radio link with the Eurocopter was lost after that, the report said.

The privately-owned helicopter was found by a rescue team at 20: 10 Moscow time (1710 GMT).