Death toll rises in helicopter crash

? The death toll from the fiery crash of a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan rose to 18 after searchers found the remains of two more American soldiers in the wreckage, the military said Saturday.

Investigators dispatched from the United States were heading to the site of Wednesday’s crash, the deadliest for Americans since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, to examine whether bad weather was to blame.

Thirteen U.S. service members and three civilian contractors were initially confirmed dead in the crash of the CH-47 Chinook near Ghazni, 80 miles south of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Spokeswoman Lt. Cindy Moore said the remains of two other soldiers listed as missing were found on Friday, raising the number of American troops killed to 15.

All the remains were taken to Bagram, the American base north of Kabul. From there, they will be flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for identification, Moore said.

The names of the victims and the nationalities of the three contractors have not been released.

Moore said investigators from the U.S. Army’s Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker, Ala., were traveling to Afghanistan on Saturday.

The helicopter crashed as it returned to Bagram from a mission to deliver mail and supplies and transport personnel in the insurgency-plagued south.

Officials reported no sign of enemy fire and suggested bad visibility may have caused a fatal pilot error or technical problem.

According to U.S. government statistics, 137 American soldiers have died in and around Afghanistan since Operation Enduring Freedom began after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.