Troops left copter before crash
Up to 40 U.S. soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division streamed out of a CH-47 Chinook for an assault on a Taliban position in southern Afghanistan shortly before the helicopter crashed, killing the seven people still aboard, officials said.
Maj. John Thomas, a spokesman for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s International Security Assistance Force, said he didn’t know the number of troops dropped off but that it probably would have been between 30 and 40.
The crash Wednesday, which was believed to have resulted from hostile fire, killed five Americans, a Briton and a Canadian.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
