13 killed in US helicopter crash

Thirteen soldiers were killed and more than 20 were injured when their US Chinook helicopter was shot down in a missile attack in Iraq today, US officials said.

The helicopter was carrying dozens of soldiers to start leave abroad when it was struck by a missile and crashed amid cornfields west of Baghdad.

"Currently there are 13 killed in action and more than 20 wounded," the US military said in a statement.

The wounded have all been transferred to medical facilities and authorities are searching for more survivors, it said.

The Chinook helicopter was believed to be carrying dozens of soldiers to their leaves abroad when it was struck by a missile and crashed in cornfields west of Baghdad, witnesses and US officials said.

Witnesses south of Fallujah, 40 miles west of the capital, said they saw two missiles fired at the helicopter, which came down near the village of Hasi, six miles to the south. Fallujah is a centre of Sunni Muslim resistance to the US occupation.

“The Chinook was shot down by an unknown weapon,” a US military spokesman in Baghdad said on condition of anonymity.

American military officials have repeatedly warned that hundreds of shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles remain unaccounted for in Iraq since the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime in April.

Rebels have fired on US aircraft before, but this was the first involving Baghdad airport.

Across Iraq, it was the third helicopter known to have been brought down since President George W Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1.

The helicopter was part of a formation of two Chinooks carrying more than 50 passengers to the US base at the former Saddam International Airport, renamed Baghdad International.

“Our initial report is that they were being transported to BIA for R&R flights,” that is, rest and recreation leaves abroad, a US command spokeswoman in Baghdad said. She said at least some were coming from Camp Ridgeway, believed to be an 82nd Airborne Division base in western Iraq.

Witnesses said the second ‘copter hovered over the downed craft for some minutes and then set down, apparently to try to help extinguish a fire, but the crashed copter was destroyed.

At least a half-dozen Black Hawk helicopters later hovered over the area, and dozens of soldiers swarmed over the site. Wounded soldiers were still being evacuated at least two hours later.

Local villagers displayed blackened pieces of wreckage to arriving reporters, and in nearby Fallujah townspeople celebrated on the streets.

The presence of the portable anti-aircraft missiles has represented a significant threat for military aircraft and raised concerns over the security of the few commercial flights in and out of Baghdad International Airport.

The US-led coalition has offered rewards to Iraqis who turn them in.