Iraqi Aid Helicopter Crashes In Northern Iraq, Injures Member of Parliament

An Iraqi aid helicopter traveling to northern Iraq to help religious minorities stranded on Mount Sinjar reportedly crashed en route, killing the pilot and injuring passengers, some of whom were members of the Yazidi sect being evacuated from their homes, now controlled by the Islamic State.

The Iraqi government's military spokesperson Qassim Atta told a press conference Tuesday that the helicopter crashed after too many people boarded it. Among those injured in the crash were Vian Dakheel, a member of Iraq's parliament, as well as a New York Times journalist, who reportedly suffered "an apparent concussion and broken wrists."

"The helicopter delivered aid to the people stranded in Sinjar and too many people boarded it and it hit the mountain during takeoff," the statement by Atta read.

The helicopter had been departing from Mount Sinjar, an area located in northern Iraq where tens of thousands of members of the Yazidi sect have fled since the Islamic State jihadist group invaded their villages and demand they convert to Islam, pay a tax, or die.

Since fleeing for the mountain over a week ago, displaced Yazidi sect members have said they are in desperate need of humanitarian aid, including water, food ,and medicine. Great Britain and the U.S. have conducted airdrops to the mountain to help those stranded, and Iraq is attempting to evacuate the Yazidi population via helicopter, as the surrounding area still remains heavily occupied by Islamic State forces.

The injured in the crash have reportedly been transported to a nearby hospital run by Kurdish forces, the group combatting the growing dominance of the Islamic State and now receiving direct aid from the U.S.