UN helicopter crashes into sea off Sierra Leone coast

A helicopter with the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) plunged into the sea this evening near the coast of the capital, Freetown, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.

According to the spokesman at UN Headquarters in New York, the aircraft was carrying seven UN personnel when it crashed around 8 p.m. Sierra Leone time.

One body has been retrieved and UNAMSIL was continuing its search and rescue operations throughout the evening, the spokesman said.