Baghdad, Jan 25: A US military helicopter today crashed in the Tigris River in the northern town of Mosul while searching for a soldier, and both pilots were missing, a US military spokeswoman said. She did not say what caused the crash of the OH-58d Kiowa warrior helicopter, attached to the 101st airborne division.

The spokeswoman said the helicopter was involved in a search and rescue mission for a US soldier reported missing when the boat he was in capsized today. The soldier was on a river patrol with three other soldiers and some Iraqi policemen, said the spokeswoman at the military command in Baghdad.


The other three soldiers were safe but two Iraqi police officers and an Iraqi translator are reported dead, said the spokeswoman, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.
She said that the search for the two pilots and an investigation into the crash are underway.

It was the fifth helicopter crash in Iraq this month- three of them due to hostile fire. Another army oh-58 Kiowa warrior crashed on Friday south of Mosul, killing the two pilots. The cause of that crash also has not been disclosed.

Bureau Report