The New York Times, which had two journalists on the flight, said between 20 and 25 Yazidi evacuees were on the chopper.
The pilot died, but
others survived, the Kurdistan Regional Government said.
Kurdish rescue
crews transported them to safety, bringing the injured to hospitals, the
government said.
The military cited "technical failure" in the crash of the MI-17.
Fuad Hussein, the Kurdish
Regional Government's chief of staff, told CNN the situation appeared
to have been caused by pilot error.
Survivors included a
woman who has come to symbolize the struggles of Yazidis, one of the
minority groups facing nightmarish slaughter from the group calling
itself the Islamic State.
Vian Dakhil, the only Yazidi in Parliament, appealed to the government last week for help in stopping the slaughter of her people.
New York Times journalist
Alissa Rubin suffered "a concussion, at least one broken wrist and
possibly some broken ribs but was conscious," The Times reported.
Freelance photographer Adam Ferguson "said via cellphone text that he
suffered a sore jaw and some minor bumps," the newspaper reported.
Three helicopters are
being used to reach the desperate Yazidi families who fled to Mount
Sinjar more than a week ago, Hussein said.
The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has been carrying out a campaign of terror and ethnic cleansing.
U.S. airstrikes against
ISIS in northern Iraq have helped Iraqi troops and Kurdistan's peshmerga
fighters to carry out the missions. Kurdistan is a part of northern
Iraq controlled by Kurds.
Source:CNN
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