A senior US military spokesman has confirmed that nine people were killed today when a Black Hawk US military helicopter came down near the Iraqi town of Falluja.
"We have confirmation that there were nine personnel on board," Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, a senior U.S. military spokesman, told a news conference. Another spokesman confirmed all nine were killed. Earlier, the death toll was put at eight.
"At this point we still don't have positive identification of the personnel, but we are working under the presumption that they were all American soldiers," Kimmitt said in Baghdad.
He gave no details on the cause of the crash. Earlier a military spokeswoman said it had made an emergency landing. Guerrillas have brought down several helicopters in Iraq.
On January 2, guerrillas shot down an OH-58 observation helicopter near Falluja, killing one pilot and injuring another.
Thursday's was the deadliest helicopter incident for the U.S. occupation forces since November 15, when two Black Hawks collided under fire in Mosul, killing 17 soldiers.
Falluja, 32 miles west of Baghdad, is dominated by Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority who had the upper hand under Saddam Hussein. It has long been a trouble spot for U.S. forces who call the area north and west of the capital the Sunni Triangle.