Norway
Plane crashed: four US soldiers die in NATO maneuvers
A archival photo of an MV-22B Osprey aircraft. A plane of this type has now crashed in Norway.
© DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP
NATO has been holding maneuvers in Norway since Monday. An accident happened on Friday. Four US soldiers lost their lives in a military plane crash.
Four US soldiers died when a military plane crashed during NATO’s “Cold Response” maneuvers in Norway. As a spokeswoman for the Norwegian army announced on Saturday, all four occupants of the plane died. The Osprey machine disappeared from radar on Friday evening during a training flight south of Bodö. Around 30,000 soldiers have been taking part in the NATO maneuvers in Norway since Monday.
Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Störe said the news of the death of the four US soldiers filled him with “great sadness”. After the military plane disappeared on Friday evening, rescue workers were initially unable to land at the crash site due to poor weather conditions. The police arrived on site an hour and a half after midnight, the Norwegian army said.
NATO maneuvers in Norway
NATO is holding its maneuvers in Norway against the background of the Ukraine war. According to the military alliance, around 30,000 soldiers, 200 aircraft and 50 ships from 27 nations, including Sweden and Finland, which are not part of NATO, are taking part in “Cold Response”. Norway’s defense in the event of an attack is to be rehearsed on the water, in the air and on land.
NATO usually holds the “cold response” exercise every two years. The maneuver, which lasts until April 1 and takes place just a few hundred kilometers from Russia’s border, was scheduled well before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to NATO, Moscow was informed in detail and invited to send observers, but declined.