The helicopter, which according to Italian media was on a training mission, split into at least two pieces after crashing at 12:34 p.m. (1134 GMT) in a grassy field near the Italian city of Treviso. At least three of the injured were seriously hurt.

A U.S. army spokeswoman could not confirm the nature of the mission, or the reason for the crash. The UA 60 flew out of the nearby Aviano air base, an important military base in Europe which deploys units to Iraq and Afghanistan, the army said.

Italian Defence Minister Arturo Parisi expressed his “solidarity” in a written message to U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

Subscribe to The China Post and save.  Click hereSharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 800 characters max

Receive China Post promos

Respond to this email