Two Marine Corps transport helicopters carrying a dozen troops crashed Friday off the coast of Djibouti, and two were rescued in the initial search, the Pentagon said. The status of the other 10 aboard the CH-53E choppers was not immediately known, officials was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. A search-and-rescue mission by troops from the United States, Djibouti and France was under way, according to a statement issued by Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, a U.S.-led military force headquartered at Camp Lemonier, a French military base in Djibouti. The helicopters were on a nighttime training mission at the time of the crash, whose cause had not been determined Friday night. At the Pentagon, a spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter, said there was no indication of hostile fire.
