Two US Army soldiers have died, 12 others are injured after a military vehicle flipped on its way to a training exercise in Alaska on Monday, the US Army Alaska said, The New York Times reported.
The truck, a light medium tactical vehicle used for troop transport, was travelling to a training near Salcha, Alaska, about 30 miles southeast of Fairbanks, where the soldiers were based.
Seventeen soldiers of the 11th Airborne Division were in the vehicle, which was travelling with a convoy of others, a US Army Alaska spokesman, John Pennell, said on Monday night.
The vehicle’s driver lost control at about 11 am and it overturned on a dirt road in the Yukon Training Area, just outside Salcha near Richardson Highway, Pennell said.
First responders extracted the soldiers and provided on-scene medical treatment until they could be medically evacuated by ground and air, the Army said in a statement.
Pennell said the injured were taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. Two who were seriously hurt were then transported to Providence Alaska Medical Center. The injured soldiers were not released from the hospital as of Monday evening.
The names of the two soldiers who died will be released 24 hours after relatives are notified, he said An investigation will examine what caused the accident, he said.
“The entire 11th Airborne Division is in mourning now for these two soldiers, these two young men that we’ve lost. We’re dedicated to ensuring that their families are taken care of and working with those who were injured to get them back on their feet,” Pennell said, as per The New York Times.
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