SYDNEY: President Joe Biden on Monday (Aug 28) sent his condolences to the families of three US Marines killed in an military aircraft crash on a northern Australian island as rescue and recovery personnel began work to bring the remains home.
An MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft carrying 23 Marines crashed then caught fire on Melville Island, just off the northern coast of Australia, on Sunday morning local time. The Marines were taking part in military exercises.
“Jill and I send our deepest condolences to the families of the Marines who lost their lives in this dead crash,” Biden said in a post on social media platform X. “We are praying for those who also suffered injuries.”
Eight Marines are in the Royal Darwin Hospital, with one in the intensive care unit. The remainder have returned to the barracks.
About 2,500 personnel from Australia, the US, the Philippines, Indonesia and East Timor were taking part in “Exercise Predators Run 2023” when the crash occurred.