BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - A British military helicopter crashed and caught fire in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Saturday, police said. Firefighters said they had seen four charred bodies inside the wreckage. The helicopter crashed into a building near the provincial governor's office, but there were no casualties on the ground, police said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, but one policeman at the scene in central Basra told Reuters the aircraft had been fired on. A British military spokesman in Basra said : "We can't confirm anything at this point, but we all agree that an incident has happened."
A large crowd gathered at the scene of the crash and began throwing stones and yelling at British troops who cordoned off the area, witnesses said. |