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Four US airmen and eight British Royal Marines were killed on Thursday in a US helicopter crash in Kuwait, British Lieutenant Colonel Ben Curry said on Friday in Kuwait.
In a live television statement, he said the helicopter -- earlier described as a US Marine Corps Sea Knight -- crashed on during deployment operations to the Fao Peninsula in southern Iraq.
"Regrettably, during the deployment phase, a US helicopter crashed. There were eight UK servicemen from 3 Commando Brigade and four US air crew on board," Curry said.
Earlier reports said that 12 British and four American soldiers on board the helicopter had died when it crashed.
The crash of the helicopter, assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, occurred at 0037 GMT Friday morning in Kuwait, some 15 kilometers away from the border with Iraq.
The accident has been confirmed by a Pentagon spokesman.
(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2003)
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