(Reuters) – Four U.S. Marines were killed when their Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashed in Southern California, while the fate of a fifth Marine onboard was unknown, a military spokesperson told CBS News on Thursday.
The five Marines were on an MV-22B Osprey when it went down near Glamis, California, just north of the Mexican border around 12:30 p.m. PDT (2130 GMT) on Wednesday, the Marine Corps said in a statement.
Marine spokesperson Mason Englehart told CBS that four of the five Marines were killed and the fate of the fifth was unknown. The names and ages of the Marines were not released.
Englehart could not immediately confirm how many people were aboard. The Marines did not say what kind of mission the plane was on.
A Marine spokesperson was not immediately available to comment.
The Osprey, which can take off and land like a helicopter and fly like a conventional winged aircraft, was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station at Camp Pendleton about 140 miles (225 km) west of Glamis.
Contrary to posts on social media and early radio calls from the scene by emergency responders, there were no nuclear materials onboard, said Corporal Sarah Marshall, a spokesperson for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which operates the aircraft, according to the Los Angeles Times.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
