Washington - A misguided 500-pound (227-kilo) bomb dropped by an F/A-18 fighter jet killed six military personnel and wounded at least five others yesterday during a close air support exercise in Kuwait, Kuwait and Pentagon officials said.
The Kuwait Defense Ministry and Pentagon officials said five Americans and a New Zealander were killed. Four of the injured were reported in serious condition, Pentagon officials said. President Bush mourned the dead, calling for a moment of silence during an appearance in Panama City, Florida.
In Auckland, the New Zealand Defense Minister, Mr Mark Burton, said his government was awaiting an "urgent explanation as to how a large bomb could be dropped in an area of a training range where observers were based."
The troops were taking part in a coalition exercise on the al-Udairi training range in Kuwait when they were hit by a single bomb dropped by an F/A-18 Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Gulf, the officials said. The mishap occurred just after nightfall in the desert of northern Kuwait.