Three victims of the eight crew members who were feared dead in Thursday's helicopter crash at Bonny waterways in Rivers state have been recovered and airlifted to Port Harcourt.

In an exclusive video made available to our correspondent, the corpses of the three victims were seen tied to a stretcher into a waiting helicopter off an oil vessel helipad.

Operatives of the Nigerian Navy and the owners of the helicopter were seen coordinating the airlifting of the bodies as other staff members watch the exercise.

Meanwhile, search for the remaining five bodies continue in the high sea by divers of the private firm and operatives of the Nigerian Navy.

The crashed helicopter was said to have departed the Air Force base in Port Harcourt and bound for Antan OML 123 field with two crew members and six passengers before it was said to have ditched into the ocean close to the company platform.

The Rivers state police command Spokesperson Grace Iringe-koko in a statement, commiserated with the families of the victims, as she acknowledged that a staff member of the firm reported the incident to the command.