Four police officers and two military personnel were taken to hospital last night after a British military helicopter came down in a residential area of Co Armagh.
Police said the Lynx helicopter descended onto a training pitch at the back of Crossmaglen Rangers club on Culloville Road in the village just before 6pm. Four police officers and three military were in the craft at the time.
The injured were taken to Newry's Daisy Hill Hospital and Craigavon Hospital.
While exact injuries were not confirmed it is understood none of the injuries are life threatening.Police and army spokesmen said the cause of the descent was being investigated but the police said there was nothing to indicate it was terrorist related. Sources later suggested severe weather conditions at the time may have caused the accident.
The army spokesman would not reveal the circumstances of the descent.
"There are subtle differences between emergency landings, crash landings and forced landings," the British army spokesman said. The area around the scene of the crash was sealed off and a full examination will be carried out at first daylight - with a full military inquiry to follow. The incident is sure to rekindle memories of the 1994 Chinook helicopter crash into the Mull of Kyntyre hillside which resulted in the loss of 29 lives.