A preliminary military investigation says a 37-year-old National Guardsman from Arkansas suffered cardiac arrest when he died in Iraq (web|news) over the weekend.

Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Woodham died suddenly in a non-combat incident on Saturday at Camp Adder in Tallil, Iraq. Woodham, a member of the Arkansas National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade, died while doing maintenance work on a humvee.

Military doctors said Woodham's cause of death was cardiac arrest, but that an autopsy was to be conducted soon.

The Arkansas National Guard initially said in a statement that Woodham died after touching an electrified piece of metal, but investigators say they found no sign of electrocution.

"We followed the medical documentation in our reports," Capt. Anthony Rushing said. "I couldn't say how this happened. That electrocution claim was something said by someone in the rush of the moment."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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