2 Soldiers Die When Tanks Plunge Off Cliff

Two soldiers were killed and 11 were injured when their three tank-like vehicles--traveling abreast in the dark of night--plunged over a 15-foot cliff during a training exercise here, Army officials said Friday.

“They were virtually side by side when they went over,” said Army Capt. Franklin Childress, a public affairs officer at the base about 35 miles north of Barstow in the Mojave Desert. “It was very, very dark.”

He said it has not been determined whether the drivers of the three M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles were using infrared devices that would have enhanced their ability to see in the dark.

The identities of the soldiers, all of whom were from the 24th Infantry Division at Ft. Stewart, Ga., were not released pending notification of kin.

Childress said that of the 11 admitted to the Weed Army Community Hospital at Ft. Irwin, three were treated and released and eight remained hospitalized. One was in serious condition; seven were in stable condition.

He said the accident occurred about 9 p.m. Thursday as the 13 soldiers were participating in a night training exercise.

Childress said the three vehicles drove over the embankment more or less simultaneously, landing upside down in a ravine. The vehicles, each equipped with a turret-mounted 25-millimeter cannon and other armaments, are used as fighting vehicles and to transport infantry troops.

An investigation has been launched to determine how the accident occurred.

Army Accident

Two soldiers were killed in a training accident at the Army’s National Training Center.