(Corrects 2nd paragraph; Air Force has revised its statement to reflect that the incident occurred on Monday, not Sunday.)

       WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force said on Tuesday that it was investigating the circumstances surrounding human remains that were found in the wheel well of one of its C-17s that flew out of Kabul amid the chaos of the Taliban taking over the city.

       In a statement, the Air Force said that the aircraft landed at Kabul's airport on Monday and was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan civilians.

       "Faced with a rapidly deteriorating security situation around the aircraft, the C-17 crew decided to depart the airfield as quickly as possible," the statement said.

       (Reporting by Idrees Ali, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)