Toru Hanai
Search and rescue efforts were underway Saturday for seven U.S. sailors reported missing after the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a Philippine-flagged container ship in Japan. Three others who were on board the ship, including the ship's commanding officer, Cmdr. Bryce Benson, were taken to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Yokosuka after the crash. Benson was reported to be in stable condition, while the two others injured were receiving treatment for lacerations and bruises. An unknown number of bodies have been recovered from the spaces that were damaged in the collision. The U.S. Navy said an investigation would be opened into the cause of the collision, which also caused “significant damage” to the USS Fitzgerald. The names of the seven missing sailors have not yet been released.