Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator    

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Helicopter shot down near Baghdad

A commercial helicopter has been shot down about 20km (12 miles) north of the Iraqi
Baghdad, killing all 11 people on board.
Those who died were six US security contractors, three Bulgarian crew members and two

Filipino guards.

US and Bulgarian officials said the Bulgarian-owned chopper was brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade.

It is believed to be the first time a civilian aircraft has been shot down over Iraq since the US-led invasion.

However, insurgents have shot down several US military helicopters.

The Russian-built MI-8 helicopter was owned by a Bulgarian company, Heli Air, and chartered by SkyLink, a North American company.

SkyLink said it had been flying to Tikrit, north of Baghdad.

TV footage showed the burning wreckage of the aircraft in a barren area.

The six Americans who died were working for security contractor Blackwater USA.

US and Bulgarian officials said the Bulgarian-owned chopper was brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade.

It is believed to be the first time a civilian aircraft has been shot down over Iraq since the US-led invasion.

However, insurgents have shot down several US military helicopters.

The Russian-built MI-8 helicopter was owned by a Bulgarian company, Heli Air, and chartered by SkyLink, a North American company.

SkyLink said it had been flying to Tikrit, north of Baghdad.

TV footage showed the burning wreckage of the aircraft in a barren area.

The six Americans who died were working for security contractor Blackwater USA.

Assassination attempt

The crash came hours after two foreign contractors were killed in a roadside bomb on the road to Baghdad airport.

Three foreign contractors - an American, a Canadian and an Australian - died in an attack on the same stretch of road on Wednesday.

The same day saw Iraq's outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi escape unhurt after a suicide bomber blew up a car near his convoy in Baghdad. At least two policemen are said to have died in the blast.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4468959.stm



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