Associated Press
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press
ROME — A U.S. Army helicopter crashed in northern Italy on Thursday and five people on board were believed to have been killed, two Italian news agencies reported.
Senior Airman Justin Weaver, a spokesman at the U.S. Air Force base in Aviano, near Venice, said he could not confirm the number of deaths but that the helicopter was an Army UH-60 Black Hawk that had taken off from Aviano.
ANSA said the helicopter was carrying about 11 people when it crashed in an uninhabited area about 25 miles southwest of Aviano.
Television footage showed the charred, smoldering wreckage of the chopper, which broke into at least two large pieces.
Without citing sources, ANSA and Apcom said five people were believed to have been killed and another five injured.