SEVEN U.S. NAVY CREW MISSING AFTER DESTROYER, MERCHANT SHIP COLLIDE
TOKYO Seven Navy sailors are missing and one was injured after a U.S. destroyer collided early Saturday morning with a merchant ship off the coast of Japan, the country’s coast guard reported.
Footage from the Japanese TV network NHK showed heavy damage to the mid-right side of the USS Fitzgerald, pictured, and a person in a stretcher being lifted to a helicopter.
The Navy’s 7th Fleet said on its Facebook page that the number of injuries is still being determined. The Fitzgerald has limited propulsion after suffering damage on the starboard side below the water line. A U.S. defence official said there is flooding in three compartments.
The Japan coast guard said it received an emergency call from a Philippine-registered container ship ACX Crystal around 2:20 a.m. that it had collided with the USS Fitzgerald southwest of Yokusuka, Japan.
Coast guard official Takeshi Aikawa said seven Navy crew members are unaccounted for, and one had a head injury. Further details of his or her condition were not known. Relatives of crew members were awaiting news of their loved ones.