STOCKHOLM, Sweden

All four passengers onboard a US military aircraft were killed when the plane crashed in northern Norway during a NATO drill, officials said on Saturday.

The American V-22B Osprey aircraft was taking part in a NATO exercise, Cold Response, which the alliance had previously said was “not linked” to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

It crashed at around 6 p.m. local time (1700GMT), according to Ivar Bo Nilsson, police spokesperson for the Norwegian county of Nordland.

The official said the plane’s wreckage has been found and all four victims were US nationals.

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store also confirmed the incident and expressed condolences over what he said was the death of “four American soldiers.”

“It is with great sadness we have received the message that four American soldiers died in a plane crash last night,” he wrote on Twitter.

“The soldiers participated in the NATO exercise Cold Response. Our deepest sympathies go to the soldiers’ families, relatives and fellow soldiers in their unit,” he added.

According to NATO, the Cold Response drill was a “a long-planned and regular exercise … not linked to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.”

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz and Gozde Bayar