Black Hawk down - 8 dead
2004-01-08 15:05
Nuamiya - Eight people on board a US military UH-60 Black
Hawk helicopter were killed when it made an emergency landing near the restive Iraqi town of Fallujah, the US military said.
"A UH-60 helicopter had an emergency landing near Fallujah, there were four crew and four passengers on board, eight killed in action," a spokesperson said.
Smouldering debris littered the crash site in the village of Nuamiya, 5km south east of Fallujah.
Witnesses said two helicopters were seen in the skies overhead when one suddenly plunged from the sky.
Two choppers landed by the crash site, while another two hovered overhead.
On January 2, one US soldier was killed and another wounded when insurgents shot down a reconnaissance helicopter supporting US military raids in the town.
The latest deaths raise to 224 the number of soldiers killed in action since US President George W Bush declared major hostilities over on May 1.