Marine helicopters crash - 10 US troops killed

Ten US troops died in the crash of two transport helicopters off northern Djibouti’s coast during a training mission.

Two CH-53E choppers were carrying a dozen crew and troops when they went down on Friday in the Gulf of Aden, near the coastal town of Ras Siyyan. The troops were members of a counterterrorism force headquartered in the Horn of Africa nation, US military officials said.

Two crew members who were rescued were taken in stable condition to the US military’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany.

The aircraft and eight Marines were from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464, based at Marine Corps Air Station New River. Two Air Force airmen killed were from bases in Washington state and Virginia.

“Our deepest sympathy and heartfelt prayers go out to the family members, friends, loved ones and co-workers of our fallen brothers- and sisters-in-arms,” said Maj. Gen. Timothy Ghormley, commanding general of the counterterrorism force. “We mourn their loss and honour their memory.”

The remains of the eight US Marines and two Air Force airmen were transported to the US yesterday, said task force spokeswoman Maj. Susan Romano.

Authorities have appointed members of an investigation panel, which includes US Marines, aviators and military administrators.

Troops, however, continue with efforts to recover the wreckage of the two helicopters and relevant material that could enable investigators to piece together what happened before the crash and determine its cause, Romano said.

“It is ongoing. It is going slowly, but it is still ongoing,” Romano said.

Romano said she heard reports that the choppers crashed in waters that were about 18 feet deep.

Visibility had been good at the time of the crash, with light winds, authorities said.

The Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, set up in the former French colony in June 2002, is responsible for fighting terrorism in nine countries in the region: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia in Africa and Yemen on the south-western corner of the Arabian Peninsula.

The impoverished region is home to a sizeable Muslim population. US officials say it has been used by terrorists as a place to hide, recruit operatives and stage attacks.

The region has suffered four attacks either claimed by or attributed to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network. In August 1998, car bombs destroyed the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; in October 2000 suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole while it was refuelling in Yemen; and in November 2002 attackers tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner minutes before a car bomb destroyed an Israeli-owned hotel on Kenya’s coast.