A British helicopter on Saturday crashed in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, witnesses and police reported. According to SkyNews, one policeman at the scene said the copter had been hit by a missile. Police Captain Mushtaq Khazim said he believed the aircraft had been hit by a missile or a rocket, and that the crew had not survived.
Iraqi firefighters said they had found four bodies inside the helicopter which came down in a residential area and appeared to have hit a house.
British soldiers deployed in the city have sealed off the area.
Sky News footage showed locals celebrating the crash, dancing in the streets and throwing stones at British soldiers trying to reach the crash area.
Scott Green, spokesman for the British military centre in Basra said: "We can confirm that there has been a helicopter crash in Basra."
