Seven missing

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Two Sikorsky SH-60K helicopters (pictured) are said to have collided and crashed during a night-time exercise.(Bild: AP/Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force)

According to the authorities, one person has died in a collision between two Japanese military helicopters and seven others are missing. Rescue workers have discovered debris in the sea, they say.

"We believe that the two helicopters crashed," Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told journalists on Sunday. No other aircraft or ships were in the vicinity, the navy said, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK. It is therefore unlikely that another country was involved in the incident.

A spokesman for the Japanese armed forces confirmed the incident to the AFP news agency and stated that one person had been rescued but was later declared dead. The search for the missing persons (see video above) is ongoing, he added.

Two Sikorsky SH-60K helicopters (pictured) are said to have collided and crashed during a night-time exercise.(Bild: AP/Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force)

Crash off the Izu Islands in the Pacific
The reason for the crash is unknown, Kihara added. The helicopters had been carrying out "exercises to combat submarines at night". According to the broadcaster NHK, the two helicopters crashed off the Izu Islands in the Pacific. Contact with the two helicopters was lost one after the other.