The bodies of seven American sailors, who were missing since a United States Navy ship collided with a merchant vessel off Tokyo Bay in Japan on Saturday, were found in flooded compartments of the ship on Sunday morning. The USS Fitzgerald had rammed into a Philippine-registered merchant ship when most of the crew is believed to have been asleep.
The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement that the bodies were found in flooded berthing compartments of the USS Fitzgerald. “The families are being notified and being provided the support they need during this difficult time.” Their names will be released after authorities at the Naval Hospital Yokosuka in Japan, where their bodies have been taken, identify them.
The three people who were injured in the collision had been evacuated from the destroyer and treated at the hospital on Saturday. They are said to be in stable condition, The Guardian reported.
The USS Fitzgerald had collided with the merchant vessel, which is three times its size, more than 55 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka. While it had sailed back to the Japanese port on Saturday evening, operations continued to trace the seven missing sailors, Reuters reported. “Once an investigation is complete, legal issues can be addressed,” a 7th Fleet spokesperson said.
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