The United States Department of Defense has released the names of six crew members killed when a US military refuelling aircraft crashed in Iraq.
According to the Pentagon, the airmen aboard the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker were John Klinner, 33, from Alabama; Ariana Savino, 31, from Washington; Ashley Pruitt, 34, from Kentucky; Seth Koval, 38, from Indiana; Curtis Angst, 30, from Ohio; and Tyler Simmons, 28, also from Ohio.
The Pentagon said Klinner, Savino and Pruitt served in the United States Air Force, while Koval, Angst and Simmons were members of the US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Military officials had earlier stated that the aircraft went down in western Iraq on Thursday and that the crash was not caused by either hostile action or friendly fire.
The aircraft was conducting a combat mission as part of ongoing US operations against Iran.
It was one of two planes involved in the mission, while the second aircraft landed safely.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth described the fallen crew members as “American heroes.”
BBC/Edited by Maxwell Oyekunle
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