"At 10:55 local time (0455 GMT) a military Mi-8 helicopter crashed at the Frunze-1 airbase" the country's aviation agency said in a statement.

Four of the injured were taken to intensive care, with two in a critical condition, the defence ministry said.

Aerial footage of the crash site showed the mangled shell of the helicopter, painted in brown camouflage, upside down in a snowy field.

The defence ministry later said it was suspending an unspecified number of officials following the incident.

"Certain officials of the Kyrgyzstan military's air defence forces have been temporarily relieved of their posts in order to objectively carry out investigative actions," the ministry said in a statement.

The Mi-8 is a Soviet-made military helicopter.

Kyrgyzstan, an ex-Soviet state located in Central Asia, is a security ally of Russia and regularly holds joint military drills with Moscow.