7 US Navy Sailors missing After Destroyer, USS Fitzgerald, and Container Ship Collided Off the Coast of Japan

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Seven Navy sailors were missing and the captain and at least two others were injured after a U.S. destroyer, USS Fitzgerald, and a container ship collided off the coast of Japan before dawn Saturday. The captain of the USS Fitzgerald was among those injured during the collision of the warship with a 29,000 ton cargo vessel. The US Navy said that up to seven missing sailors could be trapped in the mangled wreck.

Seven Navy sailors were missing and the captain and at least two others were injured after a U.S. destroyer and a container ship collided off the coast of Japan before dawn Saturday, the U.S. Navy and Japanese coast guard reported.

Rescuers were searching for the seven sailors who were thought to have been thrown into the sea or possibly trapped inside damaged sections of the destroyer, said Japanese coast guard spokesman Yoshihito Nakamura. None of the crew of the container ship was reported injured.

Footage from the Japanese TV network NHK showed Navy crew members working to pump water from flooded sections of the mid-right side of the USS Fitzgerald. The Navy’s 7th Fleet said flooding was stabilized and sailors from the USS Dewey came aboard to assist in damage control.

The ship’s captain, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, was airlifted to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Yokosuka and was in stable condition, the 7th Fleet said in a statement. Two other crew suffered cuts and bruises and were evacuated, it said. It was unclear how many others may have been hurt.