Rescuers search the water off the coast of Bergen, Norway, after a helicopter carrying oil workers crashed on Friday, April 29.
Rescuers search the water off the coast of Bergen, Norway, after a helicopter carrying oil workers crashed on Friday, April 29.

 

A helicopter carrying workers from an oil platform to the mainland crashed off the coast of Hordaland, Norway, Friday, killing at least 11 people, a police official told CNN.

Thirteen people were on board the aircraft, said Superintendent Morten Kronen.

It’s not clear whether anyone survived the crash, but the rescue and recovery effort was halted at 5 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET), officials said.

“The searches have concluded. We are no longer searching for the last two passengers,” Eorte Galti, with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Southern Norway, told CNN.

“Witnesses have said the rotor of the helicopter was seen flying away from helicopter before it crashed, but I cannot confirm,” Galti said.

The helicopter was flying from an oil platform in the North Sea to the city of Bergen and carried employees of Norway-based energy company Statoil, according to a statement on the company website.

The crash happened 50 minutes into the flight with 10 minutes remaining to landing in Bergen on the mainland, it said.
Statoil has temporarily grounded all traffic helicopters to its platforms.

Hordaland is about 250 miles west of Oslo, the Norwegian capital.

As reported by CNN