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12 dead in US helicopter crash in Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-09 19:49
Eight U.S. troops and four American civilians died
aboard a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed in northern Iraq, the
military said Monday. Two attacks on Iraq's Interior Ministry killed seven
people.
A US Army Black Hawk helicopter takes off at
Rinas Airport in Tirana, Albania, in this May 3, 1999 file photo. A Black
Hawk helicopter believed to be carrying 12 people has crashed in northern
Iraq, and all aboard were killed, the U.S. military said Sunday, Jan. 8,
2006. [AP] |
The helicopter, which crashed just before midnight Saturday, was found on
Sunday. The military initially said only that there were eight passengers and
four crew aboard, all believed to be American. The military on Monday specified
that four passengers were civilians.
The military said it wasn't yet known what caused the crash and that the
investigation would take some time.
The helicopter went down about seven miles east of Tal Afar, a northern city
near the Syrian border that has seen heavy fighting with insurgents.
The Black Hawk was part of a two-helicopter team providing support for the
101st Airborne Division and was flying between bases when communications were
lost, the military said.
It was the deadliest helicopter crash in Iraq since a CH-53 Sea Stallion went
down in bad weather in western Iraq on Jan. 26, 2005, killing 31 U.S. service
members.
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