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A6 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 29 augusT 2023
8 U.S. Marines remain in a hospital after a fiery aircraft crash

By ROD McGUIRK deaths.
Associated Press The latest was in June 2022,
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) when five Marines died in
— Eight U.S. Marines re- a fiery crash in a remote
mained in a hospital in the part of California east of
Australian north coast city San Diego. A crash inves-
of Darwin on Monday after tigation report last month
they were injured in a fiery found that the tragedy was
crash of a tiltrotor aircraft caused by a mechanical
that killed three of their col- failure related to a clutch.
leagues on an island. There had been 16 similar
All 20 survivors were flown clutch problems with the
from Melville Island 80 kilo- Marine Ospreys in flight
meters (50 miles) south to since 2012, the report
Darwin within hours of the found. But no problems
Marine V-22 Osprey crash- have arisen since February
ing at 9:30 a.m. Sunday when the Marine Corps be-
during a multinational train- gan replacing a piece of
ing exercise, Northern Terri- equipment on the aircraft,
tory Chief Minister Natasha the report said.
Fyles said. Emergency responders
All were taken to the Royal In this photo released by Australian Department of Defense, United States Marine Corps MV-22B were surprised the death
Darwin Hospital, and 12 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft are parked at RAAF Base Darwin, Australia, Aug. 11, 2023, during Exercise toll from Sunday’s crash
had been discharged by Alon at the Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2023. was not higher.
Monday, she said. Associated Press “For a chopper that crash-
The first five Marines to ar- hours,” Fyles told reporters. are currently based in Dar- yet to be explained and in- es and catches fire, to
rive at the city’s main hos- The Osprey that crashed win and up to 2,500 rotate vestigators would remain at have 20 Marines that are
pital were critically injured was one of two that flew through the city every year. the site for at least 10 days, surviving, I think that’s an
and one underwent emer- from Darwin to Melville on They are part of a realign- Murphy said. incredible outcome,” Mur-
gency surgery. Sunday as part of Exercise ment of U.S. forces in the The Osprey, a hybrid air- phy said. Defense Minister
Fyles said she would not Predators Run, which in- Asia-Pacific that is broadly craft that takes off and Richard Marles was also
detail the conditions of volves the militaries of the meant to face an increas- lands like a helicopter but greateful that the toll was
eight who remained in the United States, Australia, ingly assertive China. during flight can tilt its pro- not worse.
hospital out of respect for Indonesia, the Philippines The bodies of the three pellers forward and cruise “It’s remarkable that in
them and their families. and East Timor. Marines remained at the much faster like an air- many ways, so many have
“It’s ... a credit to everyone All 23 Marines aboard the crash site, where an exclu- plane, crashed into tropical survived,” Marles told Nine
involved that we were able lost aircraft were temporar- sion zone would be main- forest and burst into flame. News television. “This re-
to get 20 patients from an ily based in Darwin as part tained, Northern Territory Before Sunday, there had mains a very tragic inci-
extremely remote location of the Marine Corps’ an- Police Commissioner Mi- been five fatal crashes dent and the loss of those
on an island into our tertiary nual troop rotation. chael Murphy said. of Marine Ospreys since lives are keenly felt,” Marles
hospital within a matter of Around 150 U.S. Marines The cause of the crash had 2012, causing a total of 16 added.q

Haiti police probe killings of parishioners who were led by a pastor

into gang territory

By EVENS SANON — The director of Haiti’s Na- those who encouraged He said police were try- the crowd partly because
Associated Press tional Police vowed Mon- hundreds of parishioners ing to recover the bodies it had split up into two
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) day to hold accountable to take up machetes and of those killed in Canaan, groups.
sticks over the weekend to a community established “Police did everything to
try and rid a community of north of the capital by sur- stop them,” he said at a
gang members, only to be vivors of the country’s dev- news conference, calling
fatally shot by them. astating 2010 earthquake. the event a “tragedy.”
Police Chief Frantz Elbé The community is con- Zidor, the pastor, could not
said the group’s religious trolled by a powerful gang be immediately reached
leader, identified as Mar- whose leader goes only by for comment. An Associ-
corel Zidor, participated in “Jeff,” and who is an ally ated Press team visited
the protest Saturday and of another gang known as the church on Monday,
was accompanied by un- “Five Seconds.” but its big metal gates
identified people clad in Police said in a statement were closed, and no one
olive green carrying assault that they had tried to con- responded to requests for
rifles as they and the parish- vince the religious group entry.
ioners marched toward the to stop their plan “to avoid Tranquil Florant, a 32-year-
community of Canaan. a carnage by criminals old homeopathic doctor
Elbé said the group drew who have an arsenal of who is a member of the
A woman cries as she and other residents flee their homes to gunfire from gang mem- war.” Elbé noted that the church, told the AP that the
escape armed clashes between rival criminal groups in the bers, and that “multiple” group had not notified pastor announced plans
Carrefour-Feuilles district of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, people were killed and sev- police about the protest for the weekend march on
August 15, 2023. eral kidnapped, though he as required, and that of- Thursday during an all-night
Associated Press
did not provide numbers. ficers were unable to halt prayer.q