Six Americans killed in helicopter crash: embassy

BAGHDAD - Six Americans were among the nine people killed when a Bulgarian civilian helicopter was shot down Thursday afternoon north of Baghdad, a US embassy spokesman said.
Iraq insurgents downed the Mi-8 helicopter from the Bulgarian company Heliaier with a missile, according to a statement from the defence ministry in Sofia.
The six US citizens worked for Blackwater Security Consulting, which provides security for the US embassy in Iraq, the spokesman said.
The helicopter was contracted by SkyLink Air and Logistic Support Inc., a Washington DC-based contracting company working in Iraq, a SkyLink worker in Iraq said.
"Six passengers who died were Blackwater. They were Americans," the embassy spokesman said. "SkyLink is often chartered for transporting people around the country." The Bulgarian defence ministry has already confirmed that three of its nationals died in the crash.
The US military lost 31 personnel in a helicopter accident January 26 in the desert west of Baghdad that marked its biggest single loss of life in Iraq.
Since the March 2003 invasion, at least 24 US aircraft have crashed in Iraq, killing some 80 troops.

04/21/2005 15:44 GMT