The Ground Self-Defense Force announced Sunday that five bodies and a major part of a helicopter that went missing last week off Okinawa were discovered during a deep-sea diving search mission.
They were found roughly 6 kilometers north of Irabu Island in Okinawa Prefecture at around 8:30 a.m. Sunday, it said. The island lies west of Miyako Island and is connected by bridge.
The GSDF’s attempts to perform saturation diving, a technique that allows divers to work at great depths for lengthy periods, were halted Friday due to equipment flaws and Saturday due to bad weather, after what are believed to be the remains of several people and a major part of the UH-60JA helicopter were found earlier that day off the coast of Irabu Island.
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