YUMA (USA), Feb 23: Seven US Marines were killed when two helicopters collided in the California desert during night training exercises, the latest of several Marine Corps training accidents in the region.

“We’re still gathering a lot of details as the sun comes up,” said Lt. Maureen Dooley with the Miramar Air Base in California.

It will be at least 24 hours before the Marine Corps releases the names of those killed in the Wednesday night crash.

The aircraft collided in a remote portion of the Yuma Training Range Complex.

The US military and its allies train in the hot, desert area ringed by mountains because the conditions are similar to Iraq and Afghanistan.

When asked whether the crash was a result of technical or pilot error, Dooley told CNN she couldn’t confirm anything because the investigation had just begun and could take months.

Several accidents have happened in the past year involving Marine Corps training in Southern California.—AP