The body, rotor and separated tail of a Russian helicopter which crashed into the sea off Norway is lifted on to the deck of a ship (Accident Investigation Board Norway/Norwegian Police via AP)

A Russian helicopter that crashed off Norway's Arctic Svalbard archipelago with eight people on board last month has been raised from the seabed.

Norway's Accident Investigation Board said none of the missing people were inside the helicopter which went down near the Svalbard settlement of Barentsburg on October 26.

So far, only one body has been recovered from the Mi-8 helicopter's wreckage, which was located at a depth of nearly 685ft (210m).

The agency said the helicopter's cockpit voice recorder was found when the aircraft was raised early on Saturday and would be sent to Moscow for analysis.

It added that the search was continuing for the helicopter's flight data recorder and the missing crew and passengers.

AP

The helicopter had been carrying five crew members and three members from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.

It had taken off from the Russian hamlet of Pyramiden, a largely abandoned mine that attracts some tourists on excursions to see the empty Soviet-era buildings.

Barentsburg, the Arctic archipelago's second-largest settlement, is a Russian coal-mining town of about 500 people.

Under an international 1920 treaty, Norway has sovereignty over Svalbard, which is 500 miles (800km) north of its mainland. Other signatory countries have rights to exploit the archipelago's natural resources, including Russia.

Formerly known as Spitzbergen, the archipelago is known for stunning snow-covered mountains, fjords and glaciers.

AP

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