11 people dead in copter crash in Norway

At least eleven people have been killed after a helicopter went down off the coast of Norway.

The rescue coordination center said 13 people were on board when the copter crashed on Friday, adding that the passengers were all of Norwegian nationality except for a British and an Italian.

The copter crashed off the west coast of Norway, Norwegian daily Verdens Gang reported earlier.

Morten Kronen of the region’s police force said: “We have not found any survivors. We are still looking.”

“We are searching a large ocean area,” Kronen added.

Eyewitnesses told Swedish TV2 news channel that several people were seen in the ocean while some others were rescued.

According to the channel, the helicopter was seen on an islet.

Plumes of smoke were also seen billowing from the site west of the Norwegian city of Bergen.

The country’s rescue coordination center said the copter belonged to CHC Helicopter Service, adding that the helicopter went down on the way back from Statoil-operated Gullfaks B oil and gas Platform in the North Sea.

Statoil temporarily banned flights by helicopters of the same type.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg described the crash as “horrible” on her twitter account.