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Rescue workers to start recovering crashed Russian helicopter on Friday

According to the head of the Russian rescue team, the seabed is being additionally examined and the search for the dead bodies continues

LONGYEARBYEN /Norway/, November 2. /TASS/. The operation to recover the Russian helicopter, which crashed off Norway’s Island of Spitsbergen, is planned to begin on Friday, November 3, head of the Russian rescue team deployed to Spitsbergen Yevgeny Saidov told TASS.

"The operation to recover the helicopter’s body from the seabed is planned to begin tomorrow," he said.

According to Saidov, the seabed is being additionally examined and the search for the dead bodies continues. "Besides, special equipment will be brought to the crash site shortly that will allow to prevent petroleum spills while recovering the helicopter," Saidov added.

A Mil Mi-8 helicopter of the Conversavia airline, carrying eight people, went missing while on its way from the mothballed community of Pyramiden to Barentsburg on October 26. There were five crew members and three employees of the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute on board.

On October 29, more than 40 Russian rescue workers joined the search operation carried out by Norway. On Sunday night, the helicopter was found on the seabed two kilometers east of Cape Heer at a depth of nearly 210 meters. On October 30, the body of one of the victims was found 130 meters away from the crash site.