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Norwegian PM extends condolences over Mi-8 helicopter crash to Russian PM

Erna Solberg she noted that Norway highly appreciates the good cooperation established between Norwegian authorities and Russian rescuers who arrived in Spitsbergen overnight to Sunday

OSLO, October 29. /TASS/. Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg extended condolences to her Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, over the crash of the Russian Mi-8 helicopter off Spitsbergen, the Norwegian prime minister’s office said on Sunday after their telephone conversation.

Apart from that, she noted that Norway highly appreciates the good cooperation established between Norwegian authorities and Russian rescuers who arrived in Spitsbergen overnight to Sunday.

A helicopter of the Conversavia airline, carrying eight people, was en route from the mothballed community of Pyramiden to Barentsburg when contact with the aircraft was lost at 15:04 local time (16:04 Moscow time). There were five crew and three employees of the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute on board the helicopter. It was in a proper technical condition and underwent maintenance before the flight, Conversavia said. All passengers and crew of the helicopter are listed as missing. On Sunday, the Norwegian side said that the presumable crash site had been traced at a depth of 209 meters in the Barents Sea some two kilometers off Cape Heer.