Four US Marine Corps crewmen were killed last night when their helicopter crashed into a waterway near Kerbala in Iraq, defence officials said.
The officials said the four Marines were the only ones aboard the Marine Corps twin-engine troop transport when it went down.
The Pentagon gave no details of the crash, saying only the helicopter was missing and presumed to have gone down near Kerbala, about 68 miles southwest of Baghdad.
A Defence Department spokesman said there was no indication that ground fire was involved.