31 Marines killed in chopper crash

[RDRickster]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/26/...main/index.html

 

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Thirty-one Marines were killed in a helicopter crash near Iraq's border with Jordan, bringing the number of U.S. troops killed Wednesday to 36 -- the deadliest day for U.S. forces since the start of the war in Iraq.

 

Four U.S. Marines were killed during combat in Iraq's Al-Anbar province, and a U.S. soldier died when insurgents attacked a combat patrol north of Baghdad, according to the U.S. military.

 

The cause of the chopper crash was not immediately known and is being investigated, according to the military.

 

Wednesday's death toll surpassed the 31 U.S. forces killed on March 23, 2003 -- four days after the start of the war in Iraq. Twenty-nine of them died in combat that day.

 

Wednesday's incidents brought the U.S. death toll in the war to 1,417.

 

The transport helicopter crashed near Ar Rutbah in western Iraq about 1:20 a.m. local time (5:20 p.m. Tuesday ET). (Map)

 

It was carrying personnel from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and the 1st Marine Division.

 

Military officials said a search and rescue team was at the site and an investigation of the crash was under way.

 

The four Marines who died Wednesday were killed during combat operations in Iraq's Al-Anbar province, according to a military news release. The Marines were assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Ar Rutbah is also in Al-Anbar province.

 

Elsewhere, a U.S. soldier was killed Wednesday when insurgents attacked a combat patrol with grenades near Ad Duluiyah, military officials said.

 

The soldier, from the 1st Infantry Division, died and two others were wounded in the attack about 11:20 a.m. (3:20 a.m. ET). The injured were taken to a military hospital for treatment; one was in serious condition.