A Russian helicopter carrying eight has gone down at sea off the island of Spitsbergen several kilometers away from the Russian coalmining community of Barentsburg, according to the Norwegian rescue coordination center Twitter account, TASS reported.
A rescue helicopter and several vessels are heading to the site where a Russian helicopter crashed into the sea off the island of Spitsbergen earlier on Thursday, the Norwegian rescue coordination center has told the Norwegian News Agency.
The rescuers are expected to arrive to the site within minutes.
The helicopter was en route from the mothballed community of Pyramiden to Barentsburg. At 15:35 local time the rescue center received a message the helicopter had gone missing. The air incident was confirmed ten minutes later. The Norwegian rescue center’s northern branch is coordinating a search and rescue operation.