Helicopter crash kills 14 US troops in Iraq

[Snowden]

Helicopter crash kills 14 US troops in Iraq


By Bonnie Malkin and agencies

Last Updated: 11:46am BST 22/08/2007

A helicopter crash in northern Iraq has killed has killed 14 US soldiers in the the worst incident of its kind in more than two years.


A helicopter crash in northern Iraq has killed has killed 14 US soldiers in the the worst incident of its kind in more than two years.

The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was carrying four crew members and 10 passengers when it went down during a nighttime operation, according to a US military statement. Another 40 people were wounded.


The 14 soldiers were assigned to Task Force Lightning when they died

The police had just moved into new headquarters, situated among shops and houses, after a similar attack on its old building in June killed 27 people.

The statement said initial indications suggested the Black Hawk helicopter had suffered mechanical failure, the second incident of its kind in eight days.

"There were no indications of hostile fire," it said. "Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were on a night operation when one of the aircraft crashed. That helicopter had been carrying four crew members and 10 passengers."

The exact location of the crash was not immediately clear, but the losses mean 3,271 members of the US military have now been killed since the 2003 invasion. Sixty-three have died this month.

The latest crash was the worst since January 2005, when 31 service personnel were killed when a Marine transport helicopter was downed.

Helicopter crash kills 14 US troops in Iraq - Telegraph