BAGHDAD, Sept 18, 2008 (AFP) - Five American soldiers were killed Thursday when their Chinook helicopter crashed in Iraq while flying from Kuwait, the US military said.

The CH-47 Chinook 'experienced a hard landing' early Thursday when it was about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the Iraqi city of Basra while part of an aerial convoy flying from Kuwait, the military said.

'A Quick Reaction Force was dispatched from Basra,' the statement said, adding that a road convoy in the vicinity was also diverted to the crash scene.

The incident was under investigation, the statement added without identifying the victims.

The latest US deaths bring to 4,166 the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, according to an AFP count based on independent website icasualties.org.