Some human remains have washed ashore near a Florida military base after seven Marines and four soldiers in an Army helicopter crashed overnight during a training mission, a military spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for the Eglin Air Force Base on the Florida coast said the military is still investigating the crash and did not say how many remains have been found.
“This is still considered a search and rescue mission,” spokeswoman Sara Vidonisaid, adding “heavy fog is having an impact” on crews’ efforts.
Media reports citing senior U.S. officials said the 11 service members are presumed dead. Reuters could not immediately confirm the reported deaths.
One of two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters participating in the routine exercise crashed near the base, some 50 miles (80 km) east of Pensacola, and rescue workers discovered debris around 2 a.m. local time on Wednesday, base spokesman Andy Bourland said earlier in a statement.
Bourland told Reuters the helicopter was believed to have gone down over water. “Visibility is quite low right now,” he said, citing the fog.
The Marines were part of a special operations unit based out of Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, while the aircrew and helicopter belonged to the Louisiana ArmyNational Guard, Bourland said.
The second helicopter landed safely, Bourland said. Names of the missing troops were being withheld pending notification of next of kin, said Bourland.
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