The bodies of seven U.S. sailors missing after a Navy destroyer collided with a container ship off Japan were found in flooded berthing compartments, the U.S. 7th Fleet and a defense official said Saturday.
"The families are being notified and being provided the support they need during this difficult time," the 7th Fleet said in a statement issued Sunday morning local time. "The names of the Sailors will be released after all notifications are made."
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.
The damaged USS Fitzgerald is seen near the U.S. Naval base in Yokosuka, southwest of Tokyo, after the destroyer collided with a container ship off the Izu Peninsula June 17, 2017. Eugene Hoshiko / AP
The collision caused damage to the Fitzgerald's forward starboard side above and below the waterline. Two berthing spaces, a machinery space, and the radio room were damaged or flooded, the Fleet said earlier.
The Fleet said the sailors were found as search and rescue crews gained access to the spaces that were damaged in the collision, and the sailors were found in flooded berthing compartments.
The 7th Fleet statement said "a number of sailors that were missing" after the crash were found. A defense official said the bodies of all seven missing sailors were found. The Fleet said divers were able to access the space.
The sailors were being transferred to Naval Hospital Yokosuka, where they will be identified, the Navy said.
Three U.S. sailors, including the Fitzgerald's commanding officer, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, were injured in the collision and were transported by helicopter to a naval hospital in Yokosuka. All three are awake and under observation, the Fleet said Saturday. Others who were hurt were being assessed on the ship.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. The ACX Crystal had 20 crew Filipino crew members aboard and there were no injuries on that vessel, a Japanese Coast Guard official said.
U.S. and Japanese aircraft and surface ships launched a search looking for the unaccounted-for sailors. After the collision crews worked to contain the flooding on the Fitzgerald. The Fleet said shortly after 2 p.m. Tokyo time Saturday that the flooding was stabilized. The Fitzgerald returned to Yokosuka shortly Saturday evening local time.
Rear Admiral Charles Williams, commander of Task Force 70, in a statement earlier praised the "extraordinary courage" of the Fitzgerald's sailors in stabilizing the ship and sailing the vessel back to Yokosuka under "exceptionally trying circumstances."
In a video statement earlier as the search was ongoing, U.S. 7th Fleet commander Vice Admiral Joseph P. Aucoin said, "It's been a tough day for our Navy family."
"It's hard to imagine what this crew has had to endure, the challenges they've had to overcome, but I'm extremely proud of their courage and dedication," Aucoin said.
President Donald Trump said in a Tweet earlier Saturday: "Thoughts and prayers with the sailors of USS Fitzgerald and their families.