31 killed in Marine chopper crash

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A U.S. military transport helicopter crashed during sandstorms in Iraq’s western desert today, killing 31 people, all believed to be Marines, while insurgents killed five other American troops in the deadliest day for U.S. forces since the Iraq war began.

Militants waging a campaign to derail Sunday’s election carried out at least six car bombings and a flurry of other attacks on schools to be used as polling stations, political party offices and Kurdish sites, killing or wounding more than two dozen people.

While al-Qaida warned Iraqis to stay away from the polls - saying they would only have themselves to blame if they are hurt in attacks - President Bush called on people to “defy the terrorists” and cast ballots in the crucial election.

A Bush administration official said the cause of Wednesday’s crash was not immediately known but that there was bad weather at the time. An Accuweather map of Iraq showed sandstorms Wednesday in the western region of Iraq near the Jordanian border where the crash took place.

The CH-53 Sea Stallion was carrying personnel from the 1st Marine Division when it went down about 1:20 a.m. near the town of Rutbah, about 220 miles west of Baghdad, while conducting security operations, the military said in a statement.

A search and rescue team has reached the site and an investigation into what caused the crash was under way.

The administration official said Wednesday that all 31 people killed in the crash were believed to be U.S. Marines - the most American servicemembers to die in a single incident in Iraq. It was also the deadliest day for U.S. forces since the March 2003 invasion.

Bush expressed his condolences for the deaths. “The story today is going to be very discouraging to the American people. I understand that. It is the long-term objective that is vital - that is to spread freedom,” he told reporters.

He said “a lot of Iraqis” were expected to participate in the elections. “Clearly, there are some who are intimidated,” Bush said. “I urge people to vote. I urge people to defy these terrorists.”

In Iraq’s Anbar province, four U.S. Marines were killed in fighting, the military said in a statement.

The statement gave no further details, but WABC reporter Jim Dolan, who was embedded with the troops who were attacked, said the deaths came when insurgents ambushed a Marine convoy leaving the town of Haditha, west of Baghdad, hitting a vehicle with a rocket-propelled grenade.

Also Wednesday, insurgents attacked a U.S. Army patrol near the northern town of Duluiyah, killing one soldier and wounding two others, the U.S. command said.

With the four Marines and the soldier’s deaths, at least 1,377 members of the U.S. military have died in Iraq, according to an Associated Press count. If all 31 dead in the crash are confirmed to be military personnel, the count would rise to 1,408.

The previous single deadliest incident for U.S. troops was also a helicopter crash: In November 2004, two Black Hawk helicopters collided while trying to avoid ground fire, killing 17 servicemembers. Earlier that month, a Chinook transport helicopter was shot down by shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile near Fallujah, killing 16 American soldiers and wounding 26.

The U.S. military has lost at least 33 helicopters since the start of the war, including at least 20 brought down by hostile fire, according to a study by the Brookings Institution.

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