KUWAIT CITY, Feb 25: Four American soldiers were killed here on Tuesday morning, when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed while on a routine training, said a US Army statement.

The statement said the crash occurred about 1am near the military camp New Jersey, about 48 kilometres northwest of Kuwait city, adding that all the four crew members were killed.

The chopper was on a routine night training mission and the crew members were the only personnel on board, the statement said.

The Director of Kuwait Army’s Moral Guidance Department, Col Yousef Abdul Razzak Al Mulla, said the crash happened due to bad weather as Kuwait had been hit by a heavy duststorm on early Tuesday.

More than 70,000 US soldiers are currently training in the Kuwaiti desert in preparation for a possible invasion of Iraq.