31 U.S. Marines killed in helicopter crash in Iraq-Report

1/26/2005 5:17:00 PM GMT

A U.S. Marine transport helicopter crashed early on Wednesday in western Iraq, killing 31 U.S. Marines, the deadliest day for U.S. occupation forces in Iraq since the war began, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The CH-53 Sea Stallion, carrying U.S. personnel from the 1st Marine Division, crashed early Wednesday near Rutbah, about 220 miles west of Baghdad, close to Iraq’s border with Jordan.

An official at the Bush administration asserted that there were no survivors from the accident.

The official said Wednesday that all 31 people killed in the accident are all believed to be U.S. Marines.

U.S. Marines are the most American service members to die in a one incident in Iraq.

It hasn’t been made clear yet what caused the crash of the helicopter.

In November 2003, two Black Hawks collided after they came under fire in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Seventeen people were killed.

In the same month, 16 U.S. soldiers died when Iraqi resistance fighters opened fire at a Chinook in western Iraq.

The latest deaths bring to 1,407 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since the war started in 20 March 2003.