16 Killed in US Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan
By Cihan News Agency
Published: Thursday 07, 2005
zaman.com


16 people, most of whom Americans, have died in a US helicopter crash.

A CH-47 Chinook crashed yesterday while trying to land in the Bagram US base north of Kabul. Four American crew and a twelve passengers were reportedly killed.

The crash is the biggest since the end of the Taliban regime in 2001 and Afghani officials have recorded that most of the dead were Americans.

US Military Spokesperson Cindy Moore has said that indications show the helicopter crash occured three kilometers outside of Bagram due to bad weather conditions and that there were not thought to be any survivors, though two of passengers remain unaccounted for. Governor Asadullah Khalid earlier said that the crash had occurred in a sand storm and that the helicopter was on fire when search and rescue arrived at the scene of the accident.

An American official confirmed that the four crew members were Americans, but did not give the names of the rest of the dead.

[05:27:00]