3 missing as helicopter crashes into sea off Spain

A fourth person aboard the aircraft was rescued after the accident off the port of Almeria, and was hospitalised.

MADRID, January 21, 2010 (AFP) - Three people were missing after a maritime rescue helicopter crashed into the sea off southern Spain late on Thursday, emergency services said.

A fourth person aboard the aircraft was rescued after the accident off the port of Almeria, and was hospitalised suffering from hypothermia.

Three boats and four helicopters of the rescue service were scouring the seas late into the night for the three missing persons.

The cause of the accident was not immediately clear.