4 US Marines dead after aircraft crash during NATO exercise

HELSINKI (KYMA, KECY) - Four United States Marines are dead after their Osprey aircraft crashed in a Norwegian city in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise—unassociated with Ukraine.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere shared the news with a tweet on Saturday of the incident from Friday night.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but Norwegian police described bad weather in the region.

"It is with great sadness we have received the message that four American soldiers died in a plane crash last night," the Norwegian prime minister tweeted. "Our deepest sympathies go to the soldiers' families, relatives and fellow soldiers in their unit."

The Marines involved were assigned to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, II Marine Expeditionary Force and were performing a NATO exercise—Cold Response.

According to the U.S., they are waiting to release any identities to the public before notifying relatives.

The Marines were on a MV-22B Osprey.

The country's armed forces said it "had a crew of four and was out on a training mission in Nordland County" in northern Norway.

Their planned route was for north of Bodoe where it was scheduled to land right before 6 p.m. Friday.

The aircraft crashed in Graetaedalen in Beiarn, south of Bodoe.

Police say a search and rescue mission was conducted straight away.

At about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, the crew was found dead by police.

The exercises were annual NATO drills and completely unassociated with Ukraine.