A helicopter with 13 people on board was completely destroyed after crashing off the west coast of Norway on April 29.

The helicopter was on its way back from the Gullfaks B oil platform, operated by Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO), in the North Sea when it crashed.

"The helicopter is completely destroyed," a spokesman for the Rescue Coordination Centre for Southern Norway said. "Rescue services are doing all they can to find people alive."

There were 11 passengers and two crew onboard, Statoil and rescue officials said.

Emergency services have found several bodies, a local newspaper reported, citing a police official.

The number of dead could not yet be verified, Morten Kronen was quoted as saying by regional paper Bergens Tidende.

Live TV pictures from Norwegian broadcasters NRK and TV2 showed plumes of smoke rising from the area, a stretch of sea with many small islands. Pieces of red debris could be seen on one rocky outcrop.

The area, just west of Bergen, Norway's second largest city, has frequent helicopter traffic to and from offshore oil installations.

Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on Twitter the news of the crash was "horrible."

Offshore