All the eight people on board a helicopter that crashed over East River near the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan were pulled from the river and sent to hospitals and no casualties were reported, said Kevin Czartorysky, a spokesman of the New York Police Department on Friday.

He said the accident occurred at 4:51 pm. Some witnesses reported hearing a loud bang before the helicopter fell into the water. The helicopter had a pilot and a copilot.

Some media reports said three of the people on board were rescued by a private boat that happened to be in the area, and the rest were pulled from the water by rescue units that rushed to the scene.

New York water Taxi service in the East River was temporarily suspended due to the accident.

This is the second helicopter crash in four days. On Tuesday one woman was seriously injured when a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the East River with seven aboard. The helicopter was carrying tourists from Britain, France and Australia when it crashed into the river shortly after takeoff.

Federal aviation officials were still looking into the cause of the crash.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 18, 2005)