3 GIs Killed as Missile Fuel Catches Fire

Solid fuel propellant in a Pershing 2 missile ignited during a training exercise today, killing three U.S. soldiers and burning seven others, an Army spokesman said.

Maj. Michael Griffon, spokesman of the 56th Artillery Brigade which operates the missiles, said the incident occurred at a missile parts storage area near Heilbronn, in southern Germany.

Griffon said the missile, which is designed to carry nuclear warheads, was not armed. “There are no (nuclear) warheads in the area,” he said.

Griffon said three U.S. soldiers were killed and seven others taken to hospitals for treatment of burns suffered during the equipment training exercise. Of the seven, he said, five have been released and two remain hospitalized. The names of the dead and injured were being withheld until relatives could be notified.

The Army spokesman said the missile’s solid fuel propellant ignited and burned, but there was no explosion.

He said he had no details about what procedures were involved in the training being conducted at the site. “It appears like it was just an accident,” Griffon said, adding that U.S. military and West German police were investigating.

The missile base outside Heilbronn is one of three Army installations in southern West Germany where Pershing 2s are being deployed.