Bodies of the missing U.S. Navy sailors have been found dead inside the flooded compartments of the destroyer.
Dead bodies of U.S. Navy sailors discovered in the warship after the collision
The search for seven missing U.S. Navy sailors was called off
Sunday after several bodies were recovered from the flooded compartments
of the destroyer.
Commander of the Navy’s 7th Fleet told the grim news to reporters
at a Navy base in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo. Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin
wouldn’t say how many bodies were found but said the identities of the
sailors would be released following notification of the families.
The bodies were found in previously flooded compartments, including sleeping quarters.
Searchers gained access to these spaces that were damaged during
the collision and brought the remains to Naval Hospital Yokosuka where
they are to be identified, the Navy said in a statement.
The USS Fitzgerald was back at its home port in Yokosuka Naval Base
south of Tokyo by sunset Saturday. The Philippine-flagged container
ship was berthed at Tokyo’s Oi wharf, where officials were questioning
crew members about the cause of the nighttime crash.
After stabilizing the USS Fitzgerald, the destroyer USS Dewey had
joined other American and Japanese vessels and aircraft in the search
for the missing sailors.
The U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement that the crash damaged two
berthing spaces, a machinery room and the radio room. Most of the more
than 200 sailors aboard would have been asleep in their berths at the
time of the pre-dawn crash.
Water was being pumped out of flooded areas and it was unclear how
long it would take to get into the crushed mid-right side of the ship
once it was at the pier in Yokosuka, the statement said.
Nippon Yusen, the Japanese shipping company that operates the
container ship, said in a statement it is collaborating with the ship
owner and fully cooperating with the investigation by the coast guard.
The 29,060-ton ship is Philippine-flagged and all the crew are Filipinos.
-NAN
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