Wire: Black Hawk Crash Kills US Servicemember in Iraq

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2009 -- Newswire services this afternoon reported that a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed at a major American air base in Iraq, killing one U.S. servicemember and injuring 12 others, the military said Sunday.

The helicopter went down Saturday night inside of Joint Base Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

The military said the cause of the crash was under investigation and gave no other details.

The Black Hawk went down on a night of high winds that tore through the area, whipping up a fierce sandstorm that was followed by thunder, lightning and rain, according to a report by The Associated Press.

The name and other details about the servicemember killed were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

With Saturday's death, at least 4,345 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

(Report from newswire and Multinational Corps - Iraq sources.)