Death toll in U.S. Afghan helicopter crash likely 18
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-07 16:39

A U.S. military helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Wednesday is likely to have killed 18 people, a U.S. military spokeswoman said on Thursday as hopes of finding two missing servicemen alive faded.

"We have 13 confirmed American servicemen dead and 3 civilians employed by the U.S. military as contractors," Lt. Cindy Moore said. Two other servicemen's names had been on the flight manifest and they remained unaccounted for. Moore said: "The likelihood is they did get on the flight."

She did not give the nationalities of the contractors.

The CH 47 Chinook helicopter came down during a dust storm in Ghazni province, 80 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul, while on a routine mission.

It was the deadliest military air accident since Washington first deployed troops to the country in 2001.

Officials in Ghazni said U.S. and Afghan troops were at the crash site but visibility was still poor on Thursday. Residents said it was difficult to see beyond 20 meters (yards).

Names of the dead are being withheld until next of kin have been notified.

The cause of the crash will be investigated.

The helicopter was one of two Chinooks returning to Bagram Air Field north of Kabul, the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan, from a mission in the south.

Provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang said the helicopter crashed in desert 6 km (four miles) south of Ghazni town.

The United States has lost more than 100 military personnel since deploying troops to Afghanistan to oust the Taliban in late 2001. Most of the deaths have been in accidents.

Three U.S. military personnel and three civilian crew were killed in late November when their CASA 212 civilian fixed-wing transport aircraft crashed in central Afghan mountains.

Four U.S. soldiers were killed on March 26 when their vehicle struck a land mine in the southeast of the country.

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