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Nine people were killed in a crash involving two Army Black Hawk helicopters in Kentucky, a U.S. military spokesperson said.
Nondice Thurman, a spokesperson for Fort Campbell, said Thursday morning that the deaths happened the previous night in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission.
Officials were expected to provide further details at a Thursday morning news conference.
A statement from Fort Campbell says the two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, part of the 101st Airborne Division, crashed around 10 p.m. local time Wednesday in Trigg County, Kentucky. The 101st Airborne confirmed the crash about 50 kilometres northwest of Fort Campbell. The crash is under investigation.
“Right now our focus is on the Soldiers and their families who were involved,” the statement added.
The governor of Kentucky had earlier said fatalities were expected.
“We’ve got some tough news out of Fort Campbell, with early reports of a helicopter crash, and fatalities are expected,” governor Andy Beshear said in a post on Twitter, adding that local authorities and emergency services were responding to the accident.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, from Kentucky, expressed his condolences.
“I am devastated to learn about the Army helicopter accident over Kentucky involving our brave 101st Airborne,” McConnell posted on Twitter.
Fort Campbell is located near the Tennessee border, about 100 kilomtres northwest of Nashville.
‘Fireball’ seen by witness
Nick Tomaszewski, who lives about a mile from where the crash occurred, said he saw two helicopters flying over his house moments before the crash.
“For whatever reason last night my wife and I were sitting there looking out on the back deck and I said “Wow, those two helicopters look low and they look kind of close to one another tonight,'” he said.
The helicopters flew over and looped back around and moments later “we saw what looked like a firework went off in the sky.”
“All of the lights in their helicopter went out. It was like they just poofed … and then we saw a huge glow like a fireball,” Tomaszewski said.
The HH-60 is a variant of the Black Hawk helicopter designed to provide support for various military operations, including air assaults and medical evacuations, according to the army.
Last month, two Tennessee National Guard pilots were killed when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed along an Alabama highway during a training exercise.
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