Lyubomir Kostov, Georgi Naydenov and Stoyan Anchev were the three Bulgarians killed in the Thursday Iraq helicopter crash.
Nine people were killed when the Bulgarian commercial helicopter was shot down in Iraq, the Defence ministry reported. Three Bulgarian crew and six unidentified passengers were in the Russian-made aircraft when it was hit by a rocket propelled grenade, the ministry said.
The plane was owned by Bulgarian air carrier Heli Air and was reportedly chartered from Washington-based SkyLink Air and Logistic Support (USA) Inc. that contracted by the U.S. Defense Department.
Bulgaria's Deputy Foreign Minister Gergana Grancharova commented that most probably the other six victims of the crash are not Bulgarian citizens.
The attack, believed to be the first downing of a civilian aircraft in Iraq, increased the number of Bulgarians to have died there to 14 -- eight soldiers and six civilians.