Missing Russian helicopter found in Norway Arctic sea

A 2011 photo of the Russian Mi-8 helicopter at Barentsburg

A Norwegian search team has located the wreckage of a Russian helicopter that crashed into the sea with eight people on board in the Arctic.

The helicopter, which has been missing since Thursday, lies on the ocean floor off the archipelago of Svalbard, near Barentsburg, officials said.

Norwegian police would now search for those on board, a statement said.

Norway has sovereignty over Svalbard but Russia has a small coal-mining community in Barentsburg.

Russia's consul in Barentsburg said five crew and three scientists were on board the helicopter, all Russians. They are feared dead.

The helicopter went missing at 15:35 local time (13:35 GMT).

It was on a short flight to Barentsburg from Pyramiden, a disused Russian mining settlement. The helicopter is operated by a Russian coal-mining enterprise, Arktikugol.

The disused Russian mining settlement of Pyramiden on Svalbard