Two missing crew of U.S. helicopter found dead in western Iraq

The bodies of the two missing crew members of a U.S. helicopter which crashed in western Iraq have been recovered, a U.S. military spokesman said Thursday.

"The two crew members have been recovered and they were dead," he said.

On Wednesday, the U.S. military said that a marine UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed during an "area familiarization" flight in the volatile Anbar province on Tuesday, leaving two of its six-member crew missing, adding that the incident was apparently not due to "enemy action".

In a separate statement, the U.S. military said that a U.S. soldier was wounded on Thursday when a roadside bomb went off near his vehicle near the Iraqi town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad.

The soldier was evacuated to a military medical center, the statement said.

At least 2,595 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Source: Xinhua