British troops killed in helicopter crash

Two British military personnel have been killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Two other people were seriously injured when the RAF Puma helicopter came down near Baghdad on Tuesday night. They are now recovering in hospital.

The MoD said it was too early to speculate on what caused the crash, but an RAF Board of Inquiry has been set up to investigate the incident.

The MoD would not confirm which service those killed and injured belonged to, or whether they were involved in special forces operations.

The next of kin of those involved have been informed.

An MoD spokesman said: "Our thoughts are with the families at this very difficult time."

Earlier, the US military issued a statement saying a coalition helicopter had crashed on Tuesday near Salman Pak, on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital, killing two people and injuring 12.

Initial reports indicated that the crash was not caused by hostile fire, it said.

An MoD spokesman could not confirm this was the same incident, but said the details appeared to match.

The latest deaths bring to 173 the number of British military fatalities since hostilities began in Iraq in March 2003.

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