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Developing | US Marine dies with 5 still missing in the sea off Japan after crash

  • The incident adds to a growing list of US military aviation accidents around the world in recent years, prompting hearings in Congress to address the rise
  • US military accidents are a sensitive topic in Japan, particularly for residents of Okinawa, which is home to the bulk of the US presence in the country

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A US Navy FA-18 Super Hornet approaches a KC-135 air refuelling tanker above the South China Sea in this file photo. Photo: AFP

One US Marine was killed and rescue teams were searching for five others who were missing after two Marine Corps aircraft collided in mid-air and crashed into the sea off the coast of Japan, officials said on Thursday.

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Earlier, Japanese and American officials said they had so far found two of the seven Marines who had been aboard the aircraft, an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet and a KC-130 Hercules.

“One of the recovered Marines is in fair condition and the other has been declared deceased by competent medical personnel,” a Marine Corps statement said on Thursday morning.

Search-and-rescue operations for the remaining five continue near the crash site, about 100 kilometres off the cape of Muroto in southwestern Japan.

The incident adds to a growing list of US military aviation accidents around the world in recent years, prompting hearings in Congress to address the rise.

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