Four US marines drown in tank accident in Iraq

Baghdad, May 12 : Four US marines drowned when their tank fell from a bridge into a canal near Falluja, west of Baghdad, the military said today.

The deaths of the crew of the M1-A1 Abrams main battle tank near the village of Garma yesterday were not a result of enemy action, the military said in a statement.

The area is a stronghold of Sunni insurgents battling US forces and the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government. The area has been hit by recent urban and rural clashes.

The Abrams, weighing over 60 tonnes, is the spearhead of US ground forces.

More than 2,400 US soldiers have been killed in action in Iraq since American-led forces invaded in 2003.

Reuters