Missing US sailors found dead in USS Fitzgerald destroyer wreckage
"A number" of US sailors who went missing after their destroyer collided with a cargo ship off the coast of Japan have been found dead in the section of the vessel that was damaged, the US Seventh Fleet says.
Seven sailors had been reported missing after the USS Fitzgerald collided with the Philippine-flagged ACX Crystal in the early hours of Saturday.
Planes, boats and helicopters scoured the seas off Japan's Pacific coast in a bid to find the crew who disappeared in the predawn accident, which also left the USS Fitzgerald's commander injured.
The collision between the 154-metre guided missile destroyer and 222-metre Philippine-flagged container ship ACX Crystal happened around 2.30 am local time on Friday, off the coast of the Izu peninsula, southwest of Tokyo.
"As search and rescue crews gained access to the spaces that were damaged during the collision this morning, the missing sailors were located in the flooded berthing compartments," the navy said in a statement today.
"They are currently being transferred to Naval Hospital Yokosuka where they will be identified.
"The families are being notified and being provided the support they need during this difficult time. The names of the sailors will be released after all notifications are made."
The USS Fitzgerald's commanding officer Bryce Benson was among those injured in the collision.
He was evacuated by helicopter and was in a stable condition at a US Navy hospital in Yokosuka, where the Seventh Fleet is based, the navy said yesterday.
Two other sailors were also evacuated and treated for lacerations and bruises, while crew assessed others injured.
The 20-man crew on board the ACX Crystal cargo ship were uninjured, the Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen KK said, according to local media, which also reported that that vessel was now heading to harbour in Tokyo.
There was no immediate explanation as to the cause of the collision.
A statement from the US navy fleet said that the crash caused "significant damage and associated flooding to two berthing spaces, a machinery space, and the radio room."
Television images showed heavy damage to the right side of the ship just ahead of the control tower.
The US destroyer was commissioned in 1995 and deployed in the Iraq war in 2003.
