British helicopter crashes in Iraq's Basra

BASRA, Iraq, May 6 (Reuters) A British helicopter crashed in the southern Iraqi city of Basra today, witnesses and police said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the helicopter to go down but one policeman at the scene in central Basra told Reuters the aircraft had been fired on.

British soldiers deployed in the city sealed off the area, witnesses said. Neither the British military nor the British embassy could confirm the incident.

REUTERS SY PM1613