The Defense Ministry on Tuesday declared dead seven crewmen listed as missing since two Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol helicopters collided and crashed during a night drill in the Pacific in April.

The death toll from the collision rose to eight, with only one body recovered so far.

"I feel sorry as we searched hard for them. I'm also heartbroken for their families," Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said at a press conference. The MSDF will continue to search for the bodies of the crewmen and the helicopter wreckage, he added.

The two SH-60K choppers, each carrying four MSDF members, crashed on April 20 in waters around 270 kilometers east of Torishima Island in the Izu island chain.

Photo taken from a Kyodo News plane on April 21, 2024, shows a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship searching for two MSDF helicopters in waters east of Torishima Island in the Izu Island chain in the Pacific after they crashed during a drill the night before, leaving at least one of the eight crew members dead, with the other seven missing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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