The bodies of all 16 Americans on board the MH-47 Chinook helicopter that went down in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday have been recovered in the wreckage, the U.S. military reported. The helicopter's remains were found in a mountainous ravine.
The helicopter was shot down by insurgents on Tuesday. The Taliban has taken credit for downing the Chinook which was transporting soldiers into a tough battle with Taliban forces.
'At this point, we have recovered all 16 bodies of those servicemen who were onboard the MH-47 helicopter that crashed on Tuesday,' Lieutenant General James Conway, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon.
Among the dead were eight Navy SEALs and eight Army air crew. Originally, it was reported there were 17 soldiers on the helicopter but apparently, one person's life was spared because they missed the flight.
This is the second crash of a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan this year. 18 Americans were killed on April 6 when a chopper returning to base crashed at Bagram. Three civilians were among those killed in the incident.
The investigation into the crash continues although there are still enemy forces in the vicinity.
