13 die in Norway copter crash

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A helicopter carrying Statoil workers from an offshore rig in the North Sea crashed Friday on an island off western Norway, killing all 13 people on board, rescuers said.

The Airbus EC-225 helicopter shattered into pieces as it slammed just after noon into the rocky shoreline of Turoey, a tiny island outside Bergen, Norway’s second-largest city.

“We do not believe anyone can be found alive,” said Boerge Galta of the Joint Rescue Coordination Center. The rescue operation was called off Friday after 11 bodies were found on land, but divers were still looking for the other two bodies.

Eleven Norwegians, one Briton and one Italian were aboard the aircraft that went down for unknown reasons, said Jon Sjursoe, also of the Joint Rescue Coordination Center. The helicopter’s fuselage was found in the water off the island while its rotor system was on land, he said.

“This is a sad day for all those who work in the Norwegian oil and gas industry and for Norwegian society,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg told a news conference.

The helicopter was heading to Bergen from Statoil’s Gullfaks B oil field in the North Sea, about 74 miles offshore.

AP/RUNE NIELSEN A search-and-rescue vessel patrols off the western Norwegian island of Turoey, where a helicopter carrying oil-rig workers crashed Friday. The chopper shattered into pieces when it slammed into the rocky shore, killing all 13 aboard, rescuers said.