Three US marines killed and 20 injured after aircraft crashes during training exercise in Australia

Three US marines have been killed and 20 others injured, five seriously, after an aircraft crashed during a multination training exercise in a remote island in Australia.

Those in a serious condition were flown to hospital in Darwin, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Melville Island where the marines were flying in support of Exercise Predators Run, an exercise that the militaries of the United States, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor.

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed around 9:30 a.m. local time, the Marines said.

“Recovery efforts are ongoing,” the statement said, adding an investigation had been opened into the cause of the crash.

Helicopters and other aircraft had been deployed to bring the injured from the remote location, Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said.

One of the injured was undergoing surgery at the Royal Darwin Hospital, Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said around six hours after the crash.

Some were critically injured and were being triaged on arrival at Darwin's airport, she said.

"We acknowledge that this is a terrible incident,” Fyles said. “The Northern Territory government stands by to offer whatever assistance is required."

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said only Americans were injured in the crash during Exercise Predators Run.

“The initial reports suggest that the incident involves just US defence force personnel,” Albanese said.

“Our focus as a government and as the department of defense is very much on incident response and on making sure that every support and assistance is given at this difficult time,” he added.

Melville is part of the Tiwi Islands, which along with Darwin are the focus of the exercise that involves 2,500 troops.

Sunday's incident was the latest deadly crash to involve an Osprey aircraft, with numerous accidents involving Osprey military aircraft reported over the years.

The Osprey that crashed was one of two that had flown from Darwin to Melville on Sunday, Murphy said.

Around 150 US Marines are currently based in Darwin and up to 2,500 rotate through the city every year.

Four Australia personnel were killed in an army MRH-90 Taipan helicopter crash off the northeast Australian coast in July during a similar multination exercise.

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