(WASHINGTON) -- An Iowa resident has been identified as one of five soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan earlier this month.

Staff Sgt. Steven P. Blass, 27, of Estherville, Iowa, and four others died on March 11 after the helicopter they were traveling in, crashed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, a release from the Department of Defense stated. The crash remains under investigation.

Blass was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.

Also killed in the crash were Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Henderson, 27, of Franklin, La.; Capt. Sara M. Knutson, 27, of Eldersburg, Md.; Staff Sgt. Marc A. Scialdo, 31, of Naples, Fla.; and Spc. Zachary L. Shannon, 21, of Dunedin, Fla.

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