Mumbai: At least three people died today, when a Pawan Hans helicopter, which was heading to ONGC's north field with seven persons onboard, crashed near the Mumbai coast today, official sources said.

The Indian Coast Guard, which along with Navy had started the search operations, after the chopper went off radar, confirmed that three bodies were fished out from the crash site.

The Navy deployed its stealth frigate INS Teg and a P8i surveillance aircraft to locate the missing chopper while the Coast Guard, few hours earlier said that "some debris has been located".

The chopper, Dauphin N3, bearing registration number VT-PWA, took off from Juhu aerodrome at 10.25 AM, with five ONGC employees and two pilots onboard, they said.

The chopper was scheduled to land at the designated oil rig at Mumbai High at 11 AM, the sources said.

The Coast Guard also had diverted ships which were at sea and those sailing from Mumbai.

"A Dornier aircraft and helicopters from Daman (near Dahanu) have also been launched," a Coast Guard spokesperson said earlier.