BASRA, Iraq, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A U.S. military helicopter crashed in southern Iraq early Thursday, killing seven soldiers, military officials said.
A spokesman for the multi-national forces in Iraq said a total of seven bodies had been recovered, Alalam reported. The unnamed spokesman said hostile fire was not suspected.
The CH-47 Chinook made a hard landing about 12:01 a.m. about 65 miles west of Basra, Army Times reported.
It had been a year since a helicopter crash in Iraq had taken U.S. lives and only the third time one of the heavy lift rotary aircraft has been involved in a fatal crash in the Middle East country, the newspaper said.
The helicopter was part of an aerial convoy on its way from Kuwait to Balad when it went down. The cause of the crash was being investigated and the names of the victims had not been released, Army Times said.
Meanwhile, the military said a U.S. soldier died of non-combat-related causes Wednesday, Alalam said.
