Six British and one American soldier were killed in a midair collision between two British Royal Navy helicopters over international waters in the Gulf on Saturday.

The total number of casualties among the coalition forces during the ongoing Iraq offensive has now gone up to 20.

The United Kingdom central command in Doha said the collision was an accident and that the Royal Navy had ordered a probe into the cause.

The two Sea King Airborne Early Warning Aircraft collided and crashed eight kilometres from the Royal Navy's flagship.

The helicopters were not struck by enemy fire, a spokesman for British forces in the Gulf was quoted as saying.

The helicopters crashed about 4:30 am [0700 IST], soon after take-off from a ship in the Gulf, officials said.

Pentagon has confirmed that a US Navy officer was among the victims.

PTI

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What do you think about the story? Read what others have to say: Number of User Comments: 40 Sub: Justice of God!!!! Billions of people r praying for the defeat of U.S and Britain. So, God is bound to intervene in this unjust and unfair fight, and ... Posted by sony Sub: Very pleased I am very pleased to know about the casualties on british side. Actually i am not supposed to be pleased or to be happy at ... Posted by Muqeem Sub: Mass murderer Bush After looking at all these disgusted developments over Iraq, it is quite clear that all these blah blah over Iraq is for oil. Does anybody ... Posted by prasant Sub: There is no sound in God's Stick There is no any reason for US and UK for the war on Iraq. In this war so many peoples were died without any reason. ... Posted by Dhananjay Sub: xx Very good, like this let the whole of British and American troops to lost their life some where. Yes it tragic for families of these ... Posted by xx