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Airman From Michigan Dies While Handling Bombs

The family of a Battle Creek-area airman says he was killed in an accident while helping dispose of bombs at an air base in Iraq.

He's identified as 25-year-old Senior Airman Jimmy Hansen of the Calhoun County community of Athens.

Rich Hansen Jr. tells the Battle Creek Enquirer that military officials told the family his brother was killed when ``something went wrong'' while he helped detonate captured bombs.

It happened Wednesday at the Balad Air Base in central Iraq.

The Pentagon hadn't yet announced the death Wednesday night.

Jimmy Hansen was a graduate of Athens High School and enlisted in the Air Force about two years ago.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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