Japan searching for 10 people aboard crashed military helicopter

Japan on Thursday said rescue efforts were under way to locate any survivors after one of its military helicopters carrying 10 people crashed in the sea near Miyakojima, part of the country's southwest Okinawa island chain.

The UH60 troop transport, commonly known as the Black Hawk, disappeared from radar tracking after leaving a Ground Self Defense Force base on Miyakojima, General Yasunori Morishita, the head of the GSDF, said at a press briefing.

The aircraft was patrolling the waters around Miyakojima during an aerial reconnaissance mission, Morishita said.

Chinese navy vessels traveling to the Pacific Ocean from the East China Sea often pass close to Miyakojima, which has hosted GSDF mobile anti-ship missile launchers since 2019. In the past four days, amid growing tension over a meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, at least three Chinese warships have sailed past the island.

Morishita did not say whether the helicopter was involved in tracking any Chinese military activity.

The government's priority now is to rescue those who were on board, Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in comments aired by public broadcaster NHK.

Japanese Coast Guard and military ships and aircraft that located aircraft wreckage in the water were searching for the missing four helicopter crew members and six passengers. Yuichi Sakamoto, a senior GSDF commander, is among the missing.