Four British soldiers were killed Saturday in a British military helicopter crash in Basra, south Iraq, according to Britain's Sky TV reporting.

British military said the helicopter was hit by a missile before crashing in a residential area of Basra, the Sky reported.

A plume of smoke was rising into the air when British troops rushed to the site of the crash, which drew a crowd of local citizens apparently overjoyed at the downing of the helicopter, other reports monitored here said.

Some Iraqi onlookers hurled stones at the British soldiers cordoning off the site. An armored vehicle was on fire after being hit by a home-made petrol bomb.

Witnesses said the soldiers opened fire to disperse hundreds of anti-occupation Iraqis, killing at least two people, including a child, and injuring several others.

The Basra police were quoted as saying the helicopter was shot down by a rocket. Four charred bodies were found on the aircraft, which hit a house but caused no casualties on the ground.

Currently, about 8,000 British troops are based in four southern provinces in Iraq.

Britain initially deployed 46,000 troops in Iraq since the Iraq war started in March 2003. More than 100 British soldiers have been killed in the violence-ravaged country.

Source: Xinhua