U.S. ARMY CHOPPER CRASHES IN BAHAMAS, KILLING TWO

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) -- A U.S. Army helicopter carrying five people crashed
while landing on a Bahamian island, killing two women.

"The helicopter was totally lost, totally broken," said Milton Strachan Jr.,
the owner of a fuel aviation company who watched Monday night's rescue near
George Town airport on Great Exuma island.

U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Jeff Murphy in Miami said the fatalities
apparently were wives of two of three servicemen on the chopper. The
identities of those involved were withheld until relatives could be notified.

The helicopter apparently landed hard on the runway and then skidded off,
Murphy said.

The UH-60 helicopter was based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and deployed to the
Bahamas as part of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's Operation Bahamas and
Turks, the U.S. Southern Command said in a release early Tuesday. The U.S.
Army has a base at the George Town airport, about 300 miles southeast of Miami.

Two of the men were airlifted to the private Doctors Hospital in New
Providence, on the main island of Nassau, a hospital spokesman there said.
The third man was evacuated to a hospital in Miami. No information on their
conditions was immediately available.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett