KUNSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — A Kunsan airman remains in critical condition after a Sunday night taxi crash left him and a second airman hospitalized, according to the base and local police.

The airmen were returning from downtown Gunsan City when the crash occurred about 11:30 p.m., according to a base news release. The taxi they were riding in was found upside down about five miles from base, near the A-Town or International Culture Ville bar and restaurant district, Kunsan spokesman Capt. Shannon Collins said Tuesday.

A Gunsan City police spokesman said the crash occurred on an unlit country road on the outskirts of the city. The taxi hit an illegally parked car and careened into a shallow irrigation canal adjacent to a field of rice paddies, he said.

One of the airmen remained unconscious and on a respirator Tuesday, the police spokesman said. He did not know how fast the taxi was traveling but said alcohol was not involved in the crash.

The men, both E-3s in their mid-20s, are members of the 8th Security Forces Squadron, Collins said.

The critically injured airman is being treated at Won Kwang Hospital in Iksan. The second airman is in stable condition at Gunsan Medical Center. The South Korean taxi driver is being treated for minor injuries at Gunsan Cha Hospital, the news release said.

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