U.S. choppers collide: 6 killed or injured

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A helicopter collision left Iraqi and U.S. casualties near Baghdad’s Adhamiya area, the U.S. army said. “Two U.S. helicopters collided as they were landing at a Coalition force base near Adhamiyah Oct. 4,” read a U.S. army statement received by IraqiNews.com. “One Iraqi Soldier died in the accident, and three U.S. Soldiers and two Iraqi Soldiers sustained injuries,” according to the statement. “The cause of the accident is currently under investigation, but hostile fire is not suspected as a cause of the incident,” it noted. Last night, a media advisor for the Multi-National Force (MNF), al-Miqdad Jibrael, said that two U.S. helicopters crashed while landing in a northern Baghdad neighborhood, leaving one Iraqi solider killed, and two U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi soldiers injured. An Iraqi security source said the crashes occurred in the area of al-Talibiya, northeastern Baghdad, while landing in the neighborhood, not giving more details. Seven U.S. soldiers were killed on September 18 when a U.S. army chopper went down in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra. SS (S) 1