Nine US soldiers killed in air crash

A US Black Hawk medivac helicopter crashed yesterday near Fallujah, the stronghold of the anti-American insurgency, killing all nine soldiers aboard, the US military said. A witness said the helicopter was hit in the tail by a rocket.

The military also said a US soldier died on Wednesday of injuries suffered in a mortar attack that wounded 33 other troops and a civilian west of Baghdad.

There were no survivors among the nine American soldiers aboard the medical evacuation helicopter that crashed about 2:20 pm while making an “emergency landing” near Fallujah, said Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt in Baghdad.