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US Military Plane Crashes in Kyrgyzstan


The wreckage of the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker plane is seen at the site of the crash near the Kyrgyz village of Chaldovar, May 3, 2013.
The wreckage of the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker plane is seen at the site of the crash near the Kyrgyz village of Chaldovar, May 3, 2013.
A U.S. military refueling plane crashed in Kyrgyzstan Friday, about 160 kilometers west of an American air base used to support U.S. forces fighting in Afghanistan.

Manas Air Force Base, Kyrgyzstan
Manas Air Force Base, Kyrgyzstan
The air base is located at Manas International Airport and is known as the Manas transit center.

Base officials identified the aircraft as a U.S. Air Force KC-135 tanker, and said the fate of the crew was unknown.

Kyrgyz officials said three crew members and some 60 tons of fuel were on board the plane when it went down. Local media quoted eyewitnesses as saying they saw a parachute in the air as the plane was crashing.

On Monday, a civilian cargo plane crashed shortly after taking off from the U.S.-run Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, killing all seven people on board.


Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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