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Two dead after helicopter crashes in New Zealand Northland

01 December 2011 05:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Two people were killed after a helicopter helping tackle a big scrub fire in New Zealandâ€™s Far North crashed, APA reports.

The wreckage of the helicopter has been found in sea. The helicopter disappeared while on a reconnaissance flight over a blaze in Maori-owned forest near Matai Bay on the Karikari Peninsula on Wednesday night.

Senior search and rescue officer Keith Allen told Radio New Zealand that a diver was sent into the water and found the wreckage about seven metres from the surface.

On Thrusday, two divers were sent to check inside the wrecakage and found the two dead people.

The two dead are the pilot and a passenger who is understood to have been working for the Department of Conservation.

Three homes have been destroyed as a fire rages in Northland.

Scores of firefighters were still battling the fire, which has ripped through a 60 hectare area. The fire has been brought under control on the southern side of the peninsula but continues to rage across the northern side.