OH NO

At least four U.S. soldiers died in the crash Friday of an Army Black Hawk helicopter near the north-central city of Tikrit, the military in Baghdad said based on preliminary reports.

But a U.S. officer on the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity said that all six on board were dead.

It was not known whether the aircraft went down due to mechanical failure of hostile fire, a spokesman said.

The helicopter went down about 9:40 a.m. on a riverbank along the Tigris River about a half mile from the U.S. base in Saddam Hussein's former palace. The military said it did not know how many people were aboard.