Recovery efforts underway after helicopter crash kills three US marines

Eight US marines were in hospital and one of them in intensive care in a military aircraft crash in northern Australia that killed three of their comrades, authorities said on Monday. Twenty-three marines were on board the Osprey aircraft when it crashed on Melville Island, on Sunday during a military exercise for locally based troops.

Authorities have launched an investigation the cause of the crash, and efforts are also underway to recover the remains of the three dead marines. Air traffic control broadcasts from Darwin airport after the incident included communications from the site describing dark smoke and fire. The Osprey aircraft has a troubled history, blighted by a string of fatal crashes over the years.