Alwaght- Seven American sailors have been confirmed dead after a US Navy warship collided with a container ship off Japan.
The US 7th Fleet said in a statement Sunday morning local time that "a number of sailors that were missing" were found in flooded compartments. The fleet commander would not give an exact number of the bodies found because family notifications were still being made. He said a search and rescue effort was ended.
"I ask that you [keep] your thoughts and prayers for the family members and the crew," U.S. 7th Fleet commander Vice Admiral Joseph P. Aucoin said at a press conference Sunday afternoon local time.
The USS Fitzgerald collided with the Philippine-flagged merchant ship the ACX Crystal at around 2:30 a.m. Saturday local time (1:30 p.m. Friday ET) about 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka, officials said. A defense official told NBC News that the bodies of all seven sailors have been found.
The area where the wreck happened is known for heavy maritime traffic, the Japanese coast guard said. About 400 to 500 ships pass through the zone each day, the service said.
The last known fatal incident there was in September 2015, when a South Korean vessel and a Japanese container ship collided, Japan's coast guard reported. Six Japanese crew were declared dead.
The collision was the second in the region for US Navy warship in just more than a month. On May 9, the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain was struck by a South Korean fishing boat off the tense Korean Peninsula.
The USS Fitzgerald had been active in Japanese waters to monitor the Korean peninsula following amid increasing US-North Korea tensions.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been near boiling point following increased provocations by the US which include military drills and deployment of warships and submarines in the region.
Pyongyang insists that developing its military defenses including nuclear weapons is important to counter incessant provocations by the US including a possible nuclear aggression.
