Four crew members aboard a crashed Japanese military plane were confirmed dead today. The defence ministry said, the wreckage was found on the northern island of Hokkaido, where the LR-2 reconnaissance craft disappeared from radar yesterday near Hakodate airport. It had been flying there to pick up a hospital patient at the request of Hokkaido’s governor.
Troops and emergency crews earlier today found debris spread widely over the mountainous area.
The propeller aircraft was scheduled to take the patient from Hakodate to Sapporo, Hokkaido’s capital city, for special medical treatment.