Five US soldiers killed in helicopter crash in southern Iraq
18/9/2008 17:56
Five American soldiers were killed today when a US helicopter crashed near
the southern city of Basra, the US military said.
A CH-47 Chinook made a hard
landing about 100 km west of the country's second largest city of Basra as it
was part of an aerial convoy flying from Iraq's neighboring Kuwait to Balad
area, some 80 km north of Baghdad, a US military statement said.
It said that
a Quick Reaction Force was dispatched from Basra, some 550 km south of Baghdad,
to the scene, while another convoy of ground forces was in the vicinity also
diverted there.
The incident is under investigation, the military added
without telling how many personnel were on board during the incident.
The
incident is the worst since August 2007 when a US Blackhawk helicopter crashed
in northern Iraq, killing 14 American servicemen.
Xinhua
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