PRAGUE, Sept 9 (AFP) - A Lynx military helicopter crashed near the city of Brno in the Czech Republic on Thursday, killing six British soldiers, officials said.
"At the moment it looks like the six dead were all of the people on board but we are not yet ruling out that there were others," Jan Sedlak, the head of the regional emergency service, told AFP.
The Lynx, which can carry up to nine people, went down around 1 pm local time (1100 GMT) at Kuroslepy, around 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of Brno, and burst into flames, killing those on board.
The soldiers were from all members of an anti-aerial attack unit based in Germany.
The soldiers had been taking part in a Czech-British military exercise called Flying Rhino. At the time of the crash, the helicopter was flying close to the ground.
"I can confirm that the tragic accident happened two kilometres south of the airport but can give no further information until later," Sabina Introvicova, spokeswoman for the joint exercise, told Czech Radio.
The Czech Defence Ministry said the exercise, which had been due to last until September 17, would be cut short.
"Immediately after the helicopter crashed the exercise was cancelled. The cause of the accident is being investigated," ministry spokesman Jan Pejsek said in a statement.
Czech military specialists from Namesti nad Oslavou, Caslav and Pardubice were taking part in the exercise along with British instructors, training in searching for ground targets and simulating air attacks.
In London, the defence ministry confirmed that a British army helicopter had crashed in the Czech Republic but could not immediately confirm any details of casualties.
"A British Army Air Corps Lynx helicopter has crashed in the Czech Republic at 12.04pm BST (1104 GMT)," a spokesman said.
"Czech emergency services are attending and we have a UK team also present. There are reports of UK casualties, but we can't confirm any British casualties at this time. The helicopter was involved in Exercise Flying Rhino."