Three US Marines have been killed and several others seriously wounded after an Osprey aircraft crashed during military exercises in Australia.
Of the 23 Marines on board the MV-22B Osprey aircraft, three died and five others were taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital in a serious condition, the Marine Rotational Force – Darwin said in a statement on Sunday.
The incident on Melville Island happened at 9:30 a.m. local time.
“The Marines aboard the aircraft were flying in support of Exercise Predators Run. Recovery efforts are ongoing,” the statement read, adding “the cause of the incident is under investigation.”
Earlier, Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said some of the other Marines were being treated at the scene.
“We are working incredibly hard and as fast as we can to make sure we can get people to treatment,” Fyles said.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered his condolences to the families of those killed and injured.
“These Marines served our country with courage and pride, and my thoughts and prayers are with their families today, with the other troops who were injured in the crash, and with the entire USMC family,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Richard Marles expressed their condolences in a joint statement.
“Australian and US personnel have stood shoulder to shoulder for more than a century. Our Alliance is built upon these enduring links and our shared values,” Albanese and Marles said.
It is the latest deadly crash to involve an Osprey aircraft, with numerous accidents involving Osprey military aircraft reported over the years.
In 2022 five US Marines died after their MV-22B Osprey plane crashed during a training mission near Glamis, California. The same year four US service members were killed when their Osprey crashed during NATO training exercises in Norway.
The incident comes just a month after four Australian army aircrew members died after an MRH-90 Taipan helicopter crashed into the sea near Hamilton Island off the east coast of Australia during an exercise that was part of joint drills with the United States.
(CNN)
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