Three US soldiers were killed and a fourth injured when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed Friday during the rescue of an Iraqi child wounded in an explosion, U.S. military officials said.
On Friday evening, two Black Hawk helicopters were sent from the Tikrit area to help the child, who had suffered serious head injuries when unexploded ordnance went off outside Samarra, U.S. military officials in Tikrit said, according to AP.
The Black Hawks landed near the Tigris River, and the child was put into the first helicopter, which took off without problems, the officials said.
But the second helicopter snagged a wire across the river as it took off, flipping the Black Hawk over and into the water.
One of the crew was able to swim to shore and was picked up by the first helicopter, which returned after seeing the accident. The other three in the Black Hawk could not be saved, one official said. (Albawaba.com)
