US copter shot down by Salvadoran rebels

Guerrillas fighting the US-backed regime shot down an American helicopter lent to the Salvadoran government by the Reagan administration, the Defense Ministry said. A spokesmen said the rebels shot down the helicopter, one of six on loan to the Salvadoran junta, 129 miles northeast of the capital.

None of the occupants in the craft were injured in the machine gun attack on the craft, and none of the 56 US military advisers sent to train Salvadoran pilots were aboard duri ng the attack.