Three US marines killed after military helicopter crashes with 20 on board
Three US marines have been killed and 20 others injured after a military aircraft crashed in Australia during a training exercise.
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey crashed on Melville Island, a corps statement said.
Five of the injured were flown 50 miles to the mainland city of Darwin for treatment.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said: ‘We acknowledge that this is a terrible incident.
‘The Northern Territory government stands by to offer whatever assistance is required.’
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said only Americans were injured in the crash, which happened during Exercise Predators Run.
‘Our focus as a government and as the department of defence is very much on incident response and on making sure that every support and assistance is given at this difficult time,’ he added.
Melville is part of the Tiwi Islands, which, along with Darwin, are the focus of the exercise that involves 2,500 troops.
Around 150 US Marines are currently based in Darwin and up to 2,500 rotate through the city every year.
The US military was also taking part in a multination military exercise in July when four Australian personnel were killed in an army MRH-90 Taipan helicopter crash off the north-east Australian coast.
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