Civilian helicopter said crashed in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Jan 23 (Reuters) The US military said today reports that a helicopter had gone down in central Baghdad appeared to refer to a civilian aircraft.

''No coalition forces aircraft are reported as down. Coalition forces are investigating what appears to be a crashed civilian aircraft,'' a US statement said, responding to a query on reports of a crashed helicopter.

Some private security firms use helicopters to guard civilian convoys and personnel in Iraq.

Residents in central Baghdad told Reuters earlier they saw a helicopter come down and some said it had been shot first -- there were differing accounts of whether it crashed or made an emergency landing. One resident said he saw four bodies in the wreckage though there was no immediate confirmation of that.

On Saturday a US military Black Hawk helicopter crashed north of Baghdad, killing all 12 on board. CNN quoted unidentified US officials as saying it was most likely brought down by a shoulder-fired missile.

REUTERS AB RAI1841