Marines Halt Mortar’s Use After Training Blast Kills 7
Officials say a 60mm mortar round may have exploded in a firing tube during a training exercise.
The Marine Corps issued an indefinite worldwide moratorium Tuesday on the use of all 60mm mortars after an explosion left seven Marines dead and eight injured in a training exercise with the weapon in the Nevada desert.
The entrance to the U.S. Army Ammunition Depot in Hawthorne, Nev., is in a 1997 photo., 1997. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, Clint Karlsen) ORG XMIT: VGR104(Photo: Clint Karlsen, Las Vegas Review-Journal, AP)
The mortar round exploded in its firing tube during the night-time exercise at the Hawthorne Army Depot, Brig. Gen. Jim Lukeman said at a news conference at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He said investigators are trying to determine the cause of the malfunction.All the victims were from the 2nd Marine Division, based at Camp Lejeune.
Marines spokesman Capt. Binford R. Strickland said Tuesday night that the number of Marines killed was seven, disputing reports of an additional death. He said that eight Marines were injured.
Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, the area’s major trauma hospital, received eight patients, including one who was dead, according to spokeswoman Stacy Kendall. As of late-afternoon Tuesday, three were listed in serious condition, three were in fair condition and one had been discharged.
All the patients are men under the age of 30. Kendall described their injuries as penetrating trauma, fractures and vascular injuries.
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