Two helicopters crash in Iraq
2008-10-04 22:36
Baghdad - Two US Black Hawk helicopters
crashed while attempting to land at an American combat outpost
in northern Baghdad on Saturday, the US military said.
One Iraqi soldier was killed and two American and two Iraqi
soldiers were injured, military spokesperson Lieutenant Patrick
Evans said in an e-mail to Reuters.
"Two UH-60 Black Hawks have crashed while landing at Combat
Outpost Ford in (the northern Baghdad district of) Adhamiya
about 20:55 Baghdad time (1755 GMT) this evening," he said.
"The situation is under control. Emergency services are on
the scene. It is unknown how many were on board at the time of
the incident. Enemy fire is not suspected at this time."
A Reuters television cameraperson in the Sha'ab district of
northern Baghdad, near Adhamiya, said he saw two helicopters
circling overhead. The engine of one of them made a thudding
sound as it lost altitude and crashed.
The cameraperson said he heard an explosion after the impact,
followed by the sound of shooting.
Iraqi police confirmed the crash. They gave no further
details, but said clashes had broken out between Iraqi security
forces and gunmen near the crash site.
The incident was the second major US military helicopter
crash in Iraq in weeks. Last month, seven US soldiers were
killed when a transport helicopter crashed in southern Iraq in
an incident the military blamed on mechanical failure.
The US military says violence in Iraq is at it its lowest
since 2004.