British reporter Terry Lloyd died near Basra on March 22nd. It was originally believed Lloyd was shot dead in crossfire between Saddam Hussein’s troops and U.S. Marines. But new reports allege he died later, when the minibus driving him to hospital was strafed by a U.S. helicopter gunship.

The United States military may be responsible for the death of yet another journalist in Iraq. ITN reporter Terry Lloyd died near Basra on March 22nd–just days after the invasion of Iraq began. It was originally believed Lloyd was shot dead in a crossfire between Saddam Hussein’s troops and U.S. Marines.

On September 10th, six months after Lloyd’s death, a British paper reported that he was not killed in crossfire, but died later, when his vehicle was strafed by a U.S. helicopter gunship.

An Iraqi businessman named Hamid Aglan told the Daily Mirror that he picked Lloyd up at the scene of the initial ambush and was driving him to hospital in a civilian minibus when they came under fire from a US helicopter. Lloyd was wounded a second time and was dead on arrival at a hospital in Basra. He was 50 years old.

Aglan said “After the helicopter attack [Lloyd] stopped moving and was covered in blood. He was dead when we reached hospital 10 minutes later. Doctors said he was shot in the head. The helicopter pilot killed him. It shouldn’t have happened.”

He said he told British forces what had happened after the war was officially declared over, but was ignored.

Two of Lloyd’s colleagues were traveling with him when they got caught in the crossfire. Cameraman Fred Nerac and translator Hussein Osman were never found. Their bodies are still missing and they are presumed dead by colleagues.

• Aidan White, General Secretary for the International Federation of Journalists which represents more than 500,000 journalists in 100 countries.