BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two U.S. military helicopters apparently collided and crashed in a rural area on the northern outskirts of Baghdad Sunday morning, killing two U.S. soldiers and injuring five others, according to the U.S. military.
The initial reports suggest a collision and not enemy fire caused the two helicopters to crash near the town of Taji, the military said.
Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, 3,293 U.S. military personnel have died in the war. Seven American civilian contractors of the military also have died.
Since January 20, 10 U.S. helicopters -- eight of them military, two belonging to security contractors -- have been shot down or forced to make hard landings.
Thirty people have died in those incidents. On April 5, a U.S. Army helicopter went down south of Baghdad, injuring four of the nine passengers and crew on board, the U.S. military said.
Also Sunday morning, two car bombs exploded within minutes of each other in a shopping and dining area of southwest Baghdad, killing at least 15 people and wounding another 50 people, according to Baghdad police.
The first bomb hit a popular restaurant at about 10 a.m., while 10 minutes later and 100 yards away a second bomb exploded in an outdoor market in southwest Baghdad's al-Shurta al-Rabeia district, police said.
Baghdad police also reported finding 14 bullet-riddled bodies in various places around the Iraqi capital on Saturday.
Also Saturday, a car bomb blast in a crowded shopping area of central Karbala, a holy Shiite city about 70 miles southwest of Baghdad, killed at least 43 people and wounded 55, according to an official at Hussein Hospital in Karbala.
The explosion went off near a bus station and just 200 yards from the Imam Hussein shrine.
A short time later, a car bomb exploded on the Jadriya bridge, which spans the Tigris River in southern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 15 others, Iraqi police said.
The Jadriya bridge attack came two days after a suicide car bomb detonated on the Sarafiya bridge, which crosses the Tigris in northern Baghdad, also killing 10 people. Two large sections of the bridge collapsed into the river.
collide
ぶつかる、衝突｛しょうとつ｝する
outskirt
郊外｛こうがい｝、はずれ
collision
衝突｛しょうとつ｝、激突｛げきとつ｝
contractor
契約人｛けいやく にん｝、請負業者｛うけおい ぎょうしゃ｝、受託業者｛じゅたく ぎょうしゃ｝、建築請負人｛けんちく うけおいにん｝
district
〔行政などの目的で区分された〕地区｛ちく｝、地方｛ちほう｝、区域｛くいき｝、地域｛ちいき｝、地帯｛ちたい｝
span
～を補う、～の橋渡し｛はしわたし｝をする
detonate
爆発｛ばくはつ｝する、爆発｛ばくはつ｝させる
collapse
〔建造物・組織・体制などが〕つぶれる、崩れる、崩壊｛ほうかい｝する、倒壊｛とうかい｝する
