Two US airmen were killed and four missing after their B-52 bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean shortly after take-off on Monday, while preparing to fly in a Liberation Day parade in the US territory of Guam, officials said.

  A 2004 file photo shows a B-52 bomberon the tarmac of the Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, La. The Air Force reported that a B-52 bomber carrying six crew members has crashed off the island of Guam, on Monday, July 21, 2008. [Agencies]

The bomber, which had no weapons on board, crashed at 9:45 a.m. local time (2345 GMT Sunday), about 15 minutes before the parade was due to begin, the US Air Force said in a statement. There were six crew members.

The bodies of two airmen were later recovered approximately 30 miles northwest of Guam, where a search and rescue operation was still under way involving US Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and other US and Guam agencies.

The Air Force said one of the crew members had been identified but that the airman's identity would be withheld until next-of-kin could be notified.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash. The Air Force said a board of officers was investigating.

An Air Force official was quoted on the Pacific Daily News Web site as saying the plane had been meant to take part in a parade commemorating Guam's 1944 liberation from Japanese occupation in World War Two.

The island, under US control since 1898, is the only significantly populated US territory ever to have been occupied by a foreign power.

In February, a B-2 stealth bomber, which costs around $1.2 billion, crashed at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. The two pilots on board ejected safely.

(Chinadaily.com.cn via agencies July 22, 2008)