Japanese television station NHK is reporting that 7 US sailors are missing after the USS Fitzgerald collided with a merchant vessel off the coast of Japan Friday morning. The US Navy reported that one crew member was medically evacuated.
The destroyer sustained heavy damage and flooding when a Philippine-flagged container ship collided with it approximately 56 miles south of Yokosuka, the home of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet.
USA Today reports that according to a defense official, there is flooding in three compartments of the ship, while the Seventh Fleet said there was "some flooding" and that the Fitzgerald is headed back to Yokosuka, where the full extent of the damage can be determined.
Video showed little damage to the Philippine vessel, which was headed to Tokyo.
The number of injuries is still being determined.
