A Russian helicopter with eight people on board has fallen into the sea off Svalbard, an Arctic archipelago that belongs to Norway, rescue officials said Thursday.
The rescue service for northern Norway says the helicopter was en route to Barentsburg, Svalbard’s second largest settlement, from a Russian settlement known as the Pyramid.
Svalbard is more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) north of Norway’s mainland. It’s known for stunning views of snow-covered mountains, fjords and glaciers.
The rescue service said the helicopter went down two to three kilometers (1.3 to 1.9 miles) from Barentsburg at 3.30 pm
The Svalbardposten , the main local newspaper, says it was a Russian Mili Mi-8 helicopter that went down.
Tore Hongset, a spokesman for the Joint Rescue Coordination Centers for northern Norway, told Norwegian news agency NTB that it did not receive any mayday signal from the helicopter.
Tore HongsetAs much as we have heard, we are talking about a crash
Several units from the local governor and the coast guard were headed to the presumed crash site, and local hospitals were on high alert, news media reported.
In March 2008, three people were killed after a Russian Mi-8 helicopter with nine people on board crashed about four kilometers (2.5 miles) from Barentsburg.
