Two U.S. Marines killed in Morocco helicopter crash

Two U.S. Marines killed in Morocco helicopter crash

2012-04-12 16:04:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

MARRAKECH, MOROCCO (BNO NEWS) -- Two U.S. Marines were killed on Wednesday when a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crashed in southern Morocco, the military said on Thursday. Two other Marines were seriously injured.

The MV-22 Osprey helicopter, which was carrying four service members, was operating from the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima when it crashed at a Royal Moroccan military training area southwest of Agadir, a major city in southwest Morocco and the capital of the Souss-Massa-Draâ region.

A statement from U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said two U.S. Marine Corps personnel were killed in the crash, while two other personnel on board the helicopter were severely injured. "[They] are being medically evacuated for further treatment," the statement said, giving no other details about their conditions.

The aircraft was participating in a bilateral exercise dubbed 'African Lion' which began on Sunday and is scheduled to conclude on Tuesday next week. The exercise focuses on building capacity, capability, and interoperability in areas such as field and aviation training, humanitarian civic assistance, amphibious landings, intelligence capacity building, and command post and peace support operations.

The MV-22 Osprey was assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 based at Marine Corps Air Station New River in North Carolina. The identities of the four victims were not immediately known pending notification of next-of-kin.

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