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Seven injured as US military helicopter crashes off Okinawa Seven injured as US military helicopter crashes off Okinawa
(35 minutes later)
Seven people have been injured after a US army helicopter crashed off the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. A US army helicopter has crashed during a training mission while landing on a navy ship off Japan’s southern island of Okinawa, injuring seven people and damaging the aircraft.
The others aboard the helicopter were uninjured, said Japanese coastguard spokesman Shinya Terada. The conditions of the injured were not immediately known, he said. The H-60 helicopter made a hard landing on the navy cargo vessel USNS Red Cloud about 20 miles east of Okinawa, US Forces Japan said in a statement, adding that the cause of the incident was under investigation. Okinawa is home to most of the tens of thousands of US troops in Japan.
The national broadcaster NHK and the Kyodo news agency said a total of 17 crew members were on board when the accident occurred and that all were rescued. The injured were transported to a navy hospital, the statement said. Their conditions were not immediately clear.
US army Lt Col Kevin Toner said in an email that the army was still gathering facts and that it would provide details later. The other 10 people aboard the helicopter were not hurt, the Japanese coastguard said.
Terada said that after the crash, the damaged helicopter was sitting on a US warship off the eastern coast of Okinawa, which is home to most of the US troops in Japan. He said it was not immediately known whether the helicopter had crashed onto the vessel in a failed landing or if it had been plucked out of the sea after crashing there. Japanese national broadcaster NHK showed video of the helicopter sitting on the cargo ship, with its tail broken off and covered with an orange tarp.
Japan’s defence ministry had said earlier that the helicopter, a UH-60, crashed into the sea about 20 miles east of Kadena Air Base on Okinawa.
Japanese national broadcaster NHK showed video of the helicopter sitting on the warship, with its tail broken off and covered with an orange tarp.
The presence of thousands of US troops on Okinawa – where more than half of about 50,000 American troops in Japan are concentrated – has been a source of friction. A plan formulated in 1996 between the Japanese and American governments would move US Marine Air Station Futenma from a populated neighbourhood to a less developed area, but Okinawans worried about safety, crime and noise want the base moved off the island altogether.The presence of thousands of US troops on Okinawa – where more than half of about 50,000 American troops in Japan are concentrated – has been a source of friction. A plan formulated in 1996 between the Japanese and American governments would move US Marine Air Station Futenma from a populated neighbourhood to a less developed area, but Okinawans worried about safety, crime and noise want the base moved off the island altogether.
Wednesday’s accident coincided with Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga’s visit to the island for talks with Okinawa governor Takeshi Onaga, a vocal opponent of the relocation plan.Wednesday’s accident coincided with Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga’s visit to the island for talks with Okinawa governor Takeshi Onaga, a vocal opponent of the relocation plan.
“For those who live near [US] bases, it’s a serious matter,” he said at the outset of the talks, reminding Suga of Okinawa’s burden and risk of accommodating the US military bases.“For those who live near [US] bases, it’s a serious matter,” he said at the outset of the talks, reminding Suga of Okinawa’s burden and risk of accommodating the US military bases.