No Casualty Report in U.S. Africa Crash - New York Times

No Casualty Report in U.S. Africa Crash - New York Times: "No Casualty Report in U.S. Africa Crash
By REUTERS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb. 18 (Reuters) — All 12 crew members from two United States military helicopters that crashed off Djibouti on Friday have been accounted for, the military said there on Saturday.

But information on whether the 10 people who were missing overnight had survived or died would not be released until 24 hours after their families had been notified, a military spokeswoman said. Two crew members who were rescued Friday were in stable condition.

'I can't confirm either way,' the spokeswoman, Maj. Susan Romano, said of the condition of the 10 crew members accounted for Saturday, speaking by telephone from the small Red Sea state, which is a hub of United States counterterrorism operations in the Horn of Africa.

The two Marine helicopters were on a training mission in northern Djibouti at the time of the crash. Each CH53 marine transport helicopter was carrying six crew members.

'Next of kin notifications are still ongoing; therefore, no further information regarding the status of, or condition of, the crew members will be released at this time,' the latest military statement said.

The military has not yet said how the crash occurred, but efforts to recover equipment and wreckage will continue, to determine the cause, said the statement from Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, the American operation set up in Djibouti in 2002.

An earlier statement referred to the crash as an accident.

CNN television news, quoting American officials, said there was no reason to believe hostile fire had been involved.
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