SEVEN sailors have been killed after a US destroyer has returned to port after a collision with a Philippine‑flagged cargo ship off the coast of Japan, badly damaging the vessel.
Aided by tug boats, the USS Fitzgerald arrived back on Saturday at Yokosuka, Japan, where the Seventh Fleet is based.
The fleet’s commander, Vice Admiral Joseph P Aucoin, was on the pier together with many family members when the ship arrived, it said.
Aucoin said, that this has been a difficult day, adding that the search for missing shipmates would continue now that the vessel was back in Yokosuka.
US President Donald Trump tweeted, “Thoughts and prayers with the sailors of USS Fitzgerald and their families. Thank you to our Japanese allies for their assistance,”
Several personnel were also injured in the incident which happened early on Saturday morning.
