This image obtained from the US Marine Corps shows three MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircrafts flying in formation above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Sydney in 2017. A United States Osprey military aircraft crashed on a remote island north of Australia's mainland while taking part in war games on 27 August 2023, Australia's Defence Department said. Photo: AMY PHAN / MARINE CORPS / AFP
Three US Marines died during military exercises in northern Australia on Sunday, the US military said, in an aircraft crash that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called "tragic".
Five others were "transported to Royal Darwin Hospital in serious condition", Marine Rotation Force - Darwin said in a press release.
It said they were among 23 Marines on the tilt-rotor MV-22B Osprey aircraft during routine training exercises and that the cause of the crash was being investigated.
The crash occurred on the remote Tiwi Islands after 9am local time, said Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy.
Australian personnel were not involved in the crash that occurred during Exercise Predators Run 2023, Albanese said.
Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
"Our focus as a government and as a department of defence is very much on incident response and on making sure that every support and assistance is given at this difficult time," the prime minister told a previously scheduled press conference in Western Australia.
About 2500 personnel from Australia, the US, the Philippines, Indonesia and East Timor were taking part in the exercises, Sky News reported.
Four Australian soldiers were killed last month during large bilateral exercises when their helicopter crashed into the ocean off the coast of Queensland.
- This story was first published by Reuters
