Three people have died after a medical transport helicopter carrying a patient plunged into the sea in southwestern Japan.
The Japanese coast guard said six people were on board what the Japanese call “a doctor helicopter” when the crash occurred on Sunday.
The aircraft had been travelling to a hospital in Fukuoka from an airport in Nagasaki Prefecture.
The bodies of a medical doctor, Kei Arakawa, 34; the patient, Mitsuki Motoishi, 86, and her caretaker Kazuyoshi Motoishi, 68, were later recovered by a Japan Air Self-Defense Force helicopter. Their hearts had stopped, and they were later confirmed dead by a physician.
Three others, including the pilot, a helicopter mechanic and a nurse, were rescued earlier in the day and taken to hospital.
The pilot, Hiroshi Hamada, 66; Kazuto Yoshitake, the mechanic; and a 28-year-old nurse, Sakura Kunitake, were found in the waters clinging to inflatable lifesavers.
The three suffered hypothermia as their body temperatures dropped abnormally, but were conscious, an official with the coast guard said.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Yoshitake's first name was initially given with a different spelling, but the coast guard later corrected it.
The coast guard deployed two planes and three ships to the area as part of the rescue operation.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation.
On the same day, a pilot died in southeastern South Korea on Sunday after his helicopter crashed during an operation to extinguish a fire, the local fire agency said.
A local fire office said that the fire at the hill in the city of Daegu had been put out about one hour after it had broken out.
The identity of the pilot and the cause of the crash weren't immediately known.
Last month, the southeastern regions in South Korea suffered the worst-ever wildfires on record. Multiple blazes driven by strong winds and dry weather razed vast swaths of land and killed 31 people, including a pilot whose helicopter crashed during efforts to contain one of the wildfires.
