A U.S. military helicopter landed at around 11 a.m. Sunday in a rugby field at a civilian park in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, to effect an emergency rescue of an injured marine, police said Monday.
The U.S. side asked local authorities whether there was a place like a hospital or fire station where a helicopter could land, but did not inform them its helicopter would land in the park, police said.
According to police, a rescue team from the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab requested the airlift for a 28-year-old marine whose condition became serious after he fell 7 to 8 meters while rock climbing with an acquaintance in the village of Kunigami at around 8:30 a.m.
The marine, who sustained broken bones and other injuries, was taken to Nago by a local ambulance and then handed over to the U.S. rescue team.