WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US Navy and Marine Corps suspended their search and rescue efforts for three US Marines missing after their aircraft crashed into the sea off Australia's east coast on Saturday, the US Marine Corps said.
The Marine Corps said they shifted their operations to recovery efforts in coordination with the Australian Defence Force, which could last several months, and notified the next-of-kin for the three missing Marines.
Twenty-three other personnel aboard the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft had been rescued, the III Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Okinawa, Japan, said in a statement early Sunday.
(Reporting By Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Mary Milliken)
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