Fil-Am among 7 US Navy sailors killed in ship collision off Japan coast

Fire Controlman 2nd Class Carlos Victor Ganzon Sibayan, 23, from Chula Vista, California, one of the dead sailors identified by the U.S. Navy from a collision between the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald and Philippine-flagged merchant vessel. Courtesy of U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters
Fire Controlman 2nd Class Carlos Victor Ganzon Sibayan, 23, from Chula Vista, California, one of the dead sailors identified by the U.S. Navy from a collision between the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald and Philippine-flagged merchant vessel. Courtesy of U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters

A Filipino American sailor was killed in the fatal collision between the USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine-flagged merchant ship off the coast of Japan last Saturday.

Seven sailors died when the Navy destroyer ship collided with the ACX Crystal.

READ: After colliding with PH vessel, missing sailors found dead

Among the dead was Carlos Victor Sibayan of Chula Vista, California.

According to his Facebook page, Sibayan, who grew up in Southern California, is from Pasay City.

The 23-year-old has been in the Navy for four years, spending the last three in Japan.

Local media said Sibayan came from a family of service, with his father recently retiring from the military.

His mother, Carmen, described Sibayan as a hero.

Sibayan and his six fellow sailors were found in flooded berthing compartments after the collision with a Philippine-flagged container ship south of Tokyo Bay.

The US Navy earlier identified the fatalities as:

Dakota Kyle Rigsby, 19, from Palmyra, Virginia
Shingo Alexander Douglass, 25, from San Diego, California
Ngoc T Truong Huynh, 25, from Oakville, Connecticut
Noe Hernandez, 26, from Weslaco, Texas
Carlos Victor Ganzon Sibayan, 23, from Chula Vista, California
Xavier Alec Martin, 24, from Halethorpe, Maryland
Gary Leo Rehm Jr., 37, from Elyria, Ohio

With Reuters

Re-published from ABS-CBN News




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