A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter went down in Iraq on Thursday, and all eight people on board were killed, a U.S. military spokeswoman said.

The military said it was an "emergency landing" but gave no further details. At least four of the victims were soldiers, she said.

The helicopter went down near Fallujah, the spokeswoman said. The area, west of Baghdad, is a hotbed of the insurgency against the U.S. occupation.

A U.S. helicopter was shot down Jan. 3 in the same area, killing one soldier. Military officials said it almost certainly was shot down by rebels.

In the deadliest single attack on U.S. forces since the Iraq invasion began in March, 17 soldiers were killed on Nov. 15 when two Black Hawk helicopters collided above Mosul in what the military called a likely grenade attack.

On Nov. 2, a Chinook helicopter was shot down near Fallujah, killing 16 American soldiers and injuring 26. The military believes a SA-7 shoulder-fired missile slammed into one of the chopper's rear-mounted engines.

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