A helicopter with oilfield workers aboard crashed on Sunday killing eight people and injuring another one. The helicopter was carrying the oilfield workers to a job site when it went down in a Louisiana wild area, about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans.

The incident occurred at about 3:30 p.m. shortly after taking off from Amelia, the base of its operator - Petroleum Helicopters Inc., according to Jaclyn Young, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

The copter was carrying two pilots and seven passengers. The alert signal sent by the copter was picked up by the United States Air Force Rescue Coordination Center in Virginia which alerted the Coast Guard station in New Orleans.

The identities of the victims have not been released yet. Authorities said the cause of the crash is still unknown but the investigation will reveal it. The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified about the crash and its investigators are expected to arrive at the crash site today, said Richard Rovinelli, a spokesman for the company that operated the helicopter.

Another helicopter owned and operated by Petroleum Helicopters Inc crashed in June in the Sam Houston National Forest in Huntsville killing four passengers.

The corpses of the eight victims were recovered at the scene or near the crash site, which is in a marsh crossed by canals, bayous and several tidal lakes. The remote area can be reached only by airboat.

The only survivor of the terrible crash was taken by a Coast Guard helicopter to a hospital in Houma. He is reportedly in critical condition and authorities said he will be transferred to a hospital in New Orleans.