Three Americans are confirmed dead and seven are missing in the crash of a U.S. special forces helicopter in the southern Philippines.

A senior officer of the U.S. Army's Special Forces, Brigadier General Donald Wurster, said today (Friday) that no survivors have been found, but that everything possible is being done to locate the missing.

Philippine officials said earlier that fishermen had rescued two or three survivors of the crash, but General Wurster said seven soldiers are still unaccounted for. Three bodies have been recovered.

The M-H-47 Chinook helicopter went down in the darkness off Apo island in the Bohol Sea after leaving the island of Basilan, where American soldiers are helping troops from the Philippines combat Abu Sayyaf guerrillas suspected of having ties with the al-Qaida terrorist network.

Pentagon and Philippine officials say there were no reports of hostile fire.

The helicopter was flying in tandem with another, similar aircraft on a transit trip toward the Mactan air base in the city of Cebu. One radio report quotes fishermen saying the helicopter exploded in the air and crashed into the sea in flames.

U.S. and Philippine aircraft are participating in the search-and-rescue operations.

(reuters, ap, prev)

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