Copenhagen, March 19 (TIWN) All four crew members of a US Marine Corps aircraft, which crashed in northern Norway on Friday night, were killed, the Norwegian Armed Forces confirmed on Saturday.

"It is with great sadness we have received the message that four American soldiers died in a plane crash last night," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store 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  The US Marine Corps Osprey aircraft took part in aNATO training exercise when it went missing on Friday.  It was only discovered on Saturday when it crashed, north of the arctic circle. It took rescuers hours to reach the remote crash site.  "Police reached the crash site at around 01:30 CET (00:30 UTC). It is regrettably confirmed that all four on board the plane have perished," Ivar Bo Nilsson, head of the operation for Nordland police, said in a statement.