5 wounded American marines have been taken to the hospital in severe situation, the native authorities have mentioned
A US navy helicopter with 23 American marines aboard has crashed off the coast of Australia, leaving at the least three service members useless and all others injured, native officers mentioned on Sunday.
In a press release on Sunday, the Marine Rotational Pressure-Darwin mentioned the incident concerned an MV-22B Osprey plane which went down on Melville Island within the northern a part of the nation at round 9:30am native time. The crash occurred through the Predators Run drill because the helicopter was “transporting troops throughout a routine coaching train,” the division mentioned.
“Three have been confirmed deceased whereas 5 others have been transported to Royal Darwin Hospital in severe situation,” it famous, including that the investigation into the reason for the crash is ongoing.
The Predators Run drill 2023 includes greater than 2,500 troops from Australia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Indonesia.
In a press release quoted by Sky Information, the Australian Protection Pressure mentioned that preliminary knowledge signifies that the incident concerned solely US troops. “At this vital early stage, our focus is on the incident response and guaranteeing the protection of these concerned,” it added.
Later, the Northern Territory’s chief minister, Natasha Fyles, confirmed media reviews that every one these aboard have been American service members, who she mentioned sustained “a variety of accidents.” ABC reported, citing native emergency companies, that a type of who was injured is in vital situation.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the incident as “regrettable,” including that Canberra officers stay in contact with their American counterparts.
In keeping with Sky Information, the Predators Run train will likely be quickly suspended in mild of the crash.
The incident got here after the US and Australia agreed final month to broaden Washington’s navy footprint on the continent in a bid to discourage China within the Pacific. The deepened cooperation included longer visits by American submarines and an everyday rotation of US Military watercraft.
On the time, the 2 nations additionally held main navy drills – Talisman Sabre – involving greater than 34,000 personnel. The video games, by the way, have been paused after an Australian MRH-90 Taipan helicopter crashed off the nation’s northern coast, killing 4 troopers.
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