Two US soldiers were killed when the helicopter they were flying crashed into a river in western Iraq on Wednesday, apparently not because of hostile fire, US military spokesmen told AFP.
The OH-58 Kiowa helicopter splashed into the water near Haditha, 250 kilometres (150 miles) from Baghdad, at 1:50 pm (1050 GMT), one spokesman said, in the second such incident in a month.
"The site is secured and we can confirm two people killed," he said.
A second US spokesman said the dead were coalition troops, but he was unable to confirm their nationalities nor whether other people had been on board.
The Kiowa, a military observation and reconnaissance helicopter, normally carries a crew of two.
"The aircraft is presently in the river on its side. The cause of the crash is not known," the spokesman added.
Earlier, another spokesman, Colonel William Darley - who had initially said the incident happened at about 9:00 am - told AFP the army did not think the crash was the result of an attack.
In January, five US military helicopters crashed in Iraq, most downed by enemy fire.
On January 25, a Kiowa Warrior also with two on board crashed into the Tigris in the northern city of Mosul. Iraqi police said the aircraft flew at low altitude into cables strung across the river.
And in the deadliest incident on January 9, a UH-60 Blackhawk was shot down near the insurgency hotspot of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, killing all nine people on board.
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