Helicopter carrying Nigerian officials crashes

LAGOS, Nigeria – A rescue agency spokesman says a helicopter carrying Nigerian government officials has crashed in the country's oil-rich southern delta, causing unknown injuries.

Yushau Shuaibu, a spokesman for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency, said the helicopter crashed Saturday in Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta. He said the helicopter was carrying high-ranking government officials, but he did not have a final manifest for the flight.

Shuaibu says rescuers have begun searching for the downed helicopter.

Aviation disasters remain all too horribly common in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. In March, a police helicopter carrying a high-ranking police official crashed in the central Nigerian city of Jos, killing four people.