Pentagon investigates jet bombing blunder deaths
Pentagon officials are investigating what went wrong in a training exercise in Kuwait in which a US navy warplane dropped a bomb on military personnel, killing six people.
The jet was practising close air support for ground troops at the Udairi bombing range near the Iraqi border when it dropped the device.
It exploded "on or near" an observation post, the US Central Command said. Five of the victims were Americans and the sixth was a New Zealander.
Those killed and injured apparently were in the target area, but it was unclear what went wrong. Two of the Americans killed were from the Army and two were from the Air Force. No more was known about the fifth American victim.
Five other American military personnel were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. Two of them were later released.
An accident investigation board has been appointed and will arrive in Kuwait this week.
"We will work hard to take care of the families involved, and to find out how such an accident could occur," Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a statement.
The New Zealand government is pressing for answers in the accident that killed one of its soldiers, acting Major John McNutt, 27. The New Zealand Army said he was killed instantly.
"It's a terrible tragedy and... we are now looking for an urgent, detailed explanation as to how such a training exercise can go so terribly wrong," Defence Minister Mark Burton said from New Zealand.
An official said the F/A-18 Hornet strike-fighter dropped what was believed to be a 500lbs bomb. It was not clear whether the pilot erred or whether those on the ground directed the Hornet to the wrong area on the bombing range.
