Two dead in British military chopper crash

LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) Two people have been killed and 10 injured, some seriously, after a military helicopter crashed in northern England, police said today.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) helicopter was carrying three RAF crew and nine army personnel as passengers when it crashed in a wooded area west of the Catterick Garrison military base in North Yorkshire late yesterday.

''Two fatalities have been confirmed at the scene,'' a North Yorkshire Police spokesman said.

The Ministry of Defence said next of kin were still being informed and declined to give further details. An investigation would be launched into the cause of the crash, said a spokeswoman for the ministry.

One witness suggested the helicopter had mechanical problems from take-off.

''It sounded like the engine was misfiring or something -- it was making a hell of a racket,'' witness Andrew Pavey told the BBC.

Reuters CS DB1202