3 US Marines killed, 20 injured in an aircraft crash in Australia, officials say
Canberra (AP/PTI): A United States Marine Corps aircraft crashed on a north Australian island Sunday, killing three Marines and injuring 20 during a multi-nation training exercise, officials said.
Three had been confirmed dead on Melville Island and five of the 23 on board had been flown in serious conditions 80 kilometers (50 miles) to the mainland city of Darwin for hospital treatment after the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed around 9:30 a.m. local time, a corps statement said.
"Recovery efforts are ongoing," the statement said, adding the cause of the crash was under investigation.
A United States Marines Corps aircraft crashed on a north Australian island Sunday, injuring 23 Marines, several critically, officials said.
Five of the injured were flown 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Melville Island to the mainland city of Darwin for hospital treatment, Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said around six hours after the crash.
Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft had been deployed to return from the remote location with the rest of the injured, he said.
One of the injured was undergoing surgery at the Royal Darwin Hospital, Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said at a joint news conference with Murphy.
Some were critically injured and patients were being triaged on arrival at Darwin's airport, she said. No deaths were reported.
"We acknowledge that this is a terrible incident," Fyles said. "The Northern Territory government stands by to offer whatever assistance is required."
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said only Americans were injured when the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed during Exercise Predators Run, which involves the militaries of the United States, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor.
"The initial reports suggest that the incident involves just U.S. defense force personnel," Albanese said.
"Our focus as a government and as the department of defense is very much on incident response and on making sure that every support and assistance is given at this difficult time," he added.
Melville is part of the Tiwi Islands, which along with Darwin are the focus of the exercise that involves 2,500 troops.
The Osprey that crashed was one of two that had flown from Darwin to Melville on Sunday, Murphy said.
Around 150 U.S. Marines are currently based in Darwin and up to 2,500 rotate through the city every year.
The U.S. military was also taking part in a mulitnation military exercise in July when four Australia personnel were killed in an army MRH-90 Taipan helicopter crash off the northeast Australian coast. (AP)
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
