US military aircraft crashes off island in Japan

A US military V-22 Osprey aircraft on Wednesday crashed off the coast of Yakushima island in Japan, Kyodo News reported, quoting the country's coastguard. The aircraft was carrying eight people, the Japan Coast Guard said, adding that it was notified of the crash at around 2:45 p.m. According to the Associated Press, the Japanese coast guard was heading to the site for search and rescue operations.

Details about what happened to the Osprey aircraft and to the people on board were not immediately known, coastguard spokesperson Kazuo Ogawa told the Associated Press.

(This is a breaking News story. More details are awaited.)