Four killed as US chopper crashes in Kuwait

A United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a night training mission in Kuwait today, killing all four crew members, the US Army said.

The crash occurred near the US Army’s Camp New Jersey about 30 miles northwest of Kuwait City.

The aircraft, which belonged to the Army’s V Corps, was part of the force that has been massed in Kuwait for a possible invasion of Iraq.

The crew members were the only personnel on board, the Army said.

Cheryl Irwin, a Defence Department spokeswoman, said Central Command was investigating the crash.

It was the worst US helicopter crash overseas since January 30, when four members of an elite aviation regiment were killed in a training mission seven miles east of Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. That helicopter was an MH-60, an adapted version of the Black Hawk.

Five American soldiers were killed on December 11 in the last crash of a Black Hawk, when an Army helicopter crashed about 40 minutes after takeoff into central Honduran mountains while on a training mission.

At least 39 soldiers and crew members have been killed and 38 injured in Black Hawk crashes since 1999.

More than 70,000 US troops are training in the Kuwaiti desert in preparation for a possible invasion of Iraq.

President George W Bush has threatened to use force to disarm Baghdad of weapons of mass destruction if it does not do so voluntarily according to UN resolutions.

Iraq denies it has such weapons.