Russian Emergencies Ministry Expands Search Area of Mi-8 Helicopter

The Russian Emergencies Ministry along with the Norwegian police and volunteers of the Red Cross have been searching for people who were on board the Mi-8 helicopter that crashed into the sea off the coast of Norway's Svalbard on October 26.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Russian Emergencies Ministry said in a statement to Sputnik, concerning sunken Mi-8 helicopter the search will continue and the search and rescue zone operation has been expanded.

Earlier in the day, the Russian consul general in Svalbard confirmed that the carcass of the helicopter had been lifted from the bottom of the sea.

Svalbard is more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) north of Norway’s mainland.

READ MORE: Russian and Norwegian Rescuers to Start Searching for Missing Mi-8 Helicopter

Over the past five days, rescuers have surveyed more than 200 km of coastline.

The area of search crashed Russian Mi-8 helicopter on the Spitsbergen coastline was expanded https://t.co/EHVomTyTGq

— ruaviation (@ruaviation) 3 ноября 2017 г.

Mi-8 helicopter disappeared from radars on October 26 during a flight from the village of Pyramid to Barentsburg. On board were five crew members and three employees of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. The body of one of the passengers of the helicopter was discovered on October 30, 130 meters from the crash site of the aircraft. The fate of the remaining seven people is still unknown.