Seven sailors were missing, and while the U.S. Navy hasn’t yet made an official statement about the exact number of bodies, CNN reports a navy official saying seven bodies have now been found, MANA correspondent reported.
As search and rescue crews gained access to the spaces that were damaged during the collision on early Sunday morning, the missing sailors were located in the flooded berthing compartments. They are currently being transferred to Naval Hospital Yokosuka where they will be identified.
USS Fitzgerald collided with the Philippine-flagged merchant vessel ACX Crystal at approximately 2:30 a.m. local time, June 17, while operating about 56 nautical miles southwest of Yokosuka, Japan.