A Russian helicopter with eight people on board missing three days ago was located in the sea off the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean, Norwegian rescue services said Sunday.

"The wreckage of the Russian Mi-8 helicopter missing since Oct. 26 has been located on the ocean floor 2.2 km northeast of Heerodden, at a depth of 209 meters," the Joint Rescue Coordination Centers (JRCC) in northern Norway said in a statement.

Police will begin to search for casualties, it added.

The helicopter, carrying five crew members and three passengers, all Russians, was flying from Pyramiden, a Russian settlement on Svalbard, to Barentsburg, the rescue services said.

According to the Svalbard Treaty of 1920, the archipelago is under Norwegian sovereignty, but the exercise of sovereignty is subject to certain stipulations and citizens of signatory countries have equal rights to exploit its natural resources.

source: Alarabiya