Seven sailors missing after US destroyer crashes in Japan

US Navy destroyer collided early on Saturday morning with a PHILIppInE-flAGGED ContAInEr sHIp soutH oF ToKyo BAy In JApAn.

stroyer, collided with a merchant vessel at about 2:30 am local time (1730 GMT), some 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka, a rare incident on a busy waterway. Three aboard the destroyer had been medically evacuated, including the ship’s commanding officer, Cmdr Bryce Benson, who was reportedly in stable condition after being airlifted to the US Naval Hospital on the Yokosuka base, the Navy said.

The other two injured were transferred to the hospital to treat lacerations and bruises, it said. The Fitzgerald, the Japanese Coast Guard and Maritime Self-Defense Force were searching for the seven missing sailors. Benson took command of the Fitzgerald on 13 May. He had previously commanded a minesweeper based in Sasebo in western Japan. It was unclear how the collision happened. “Once an investigation is complete then any legal issues can be addressed,” the 7th Fleet spokesman said. “The USS Fitzgerald suffered damage on her starboard side above and below the waterline,” the Navy said in a statement.

The full extent of damage to the ship and injuries to its crew were still being determined, it said, adding that the Fitzgerald was operating under its own power, “although her propulsion is limited”. The ship, part of an eight-ship squadron based in Yokosuka, had in February completed $21 million worth of upgrades and repairs.

A spokesman for the US 7th Fleet said the ship was heading back to Yokosuka under its own power at 3 knots.

Japan’s Nippon Yusen KK, which charters the container ship, ASX Crystal, said it would “cooperate fully” investigation. The Iraqi army and Sunni tribal fighters have dislodged Islamic State from the alWaleed border crossing into Syria, an Iraqi military statement said on Saturday.

The capture of al-Waleed removes Islamic State fighters from the vicinity of a US base located on the other side of the border, in Syrian territory.

Aircraft from the US-led coalition and the Iraqi air force took part in the operation, the statement said.

Al-Waleed is close to Tanf, a strategic Syrian border cross-