Tokyo, May 22 (AP) Japan's air force chief on Thursday confirmed the deaths of two service members whose training aircraft crashed last week.

The T-4 plane with two aboard crashed into a reservoir minutes after takeoff from Komaki Air Base in the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi on May 14.

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Air Self-Defence Force Chief of Staff Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura told reporters Thursday that autopsies showed that the two, aged 29 and 31 years, died two minutes after takeoff.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. The air force grounded all remaining 196 of the training planes for emergency inspection.

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The crash is the latest in a series of defence aircraft accidents in recent years and comes at a time when Japan is accelerating a military buildup to deter China's growing influence in the region. Japan has doubled its defence spending, raising concern that funding for weapons may be prioritised over safety. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)