Baghdad hunt for 'downed pilot'

Iraqi officials launched a massive search in Baghdad for a possible downed coalition pilot.

They scoured a river and fired shots into bushes along the river banks.

US and British officials said they had no information about any downed plane.

Hundreds of heavily armed police and security men opened up with Kalashnikov assault rifles along the Tikrit River after witnesses said they had seen parachutes fall in the area.

Police also set fire to the brush and fired shots near the base of the al-Tahrir bridge. Small boats patrolled the river, searching the murky brown waters. Police and security cut off roads leading into the area.

Crowds and television cameras gathered quickly, and hundreds of civilians tried to join the search.

So far, nothing has been found.

The search began soon after air raid sirens had sounded in Baghdad.

A spokesman for the US Central Command said it had no information about the report, and a spokesman at the British Ministry of Defence in London said he had no confirmation of a plane down.

"We're aware of the claims on Iraqi TV," the spokesman said . "But we've got no information about British pilots down in any parts of Iraq."

Most watched News videos