Military Training Accident Kills 3

A mortar round fired from an armored vehicle exploded prematurely during a training exercise Friday, killing three soldiers, military officials said.

One other soldier was wounded but the injury was not life-threatening, said Maj. Rob Ali, a base spokesman.

"The injured soldier was evacuated to Weed Army Community Hospital on Fort Irwin and was listed in stable condition," a base news release said, adding names of the dead and injured were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The accident happened shortly before 2:30 a.m. The soldiers were engaged in a military exercise when a 120 mm mortar round exploded as it was being fired from its carrier, Ali said.

The soldiers were from the 1st Brigade Combat Team from Fort Riley, Kan. The unit was finishing its last day of training as part of a four-week exercise, Ali said.

Some 3,500 soldiers from Fort Riley are participating in drills at the California fort, which is home to the National Training Center, a special program for realistic combat training. More than 1.2 million soldiers have trained there since it opened in 1982.

The accident comes just over a week after two U.S. soldiers from the Army's 10th Mountain Division were killed when artillery fire accidentally struck a dining tent at Fort Drum Army base in upstate New York on March 21. The Fort Drum accident also injured seven other soldiers. The troops were eating breakfast in the tent when the rounds hit.

It also followed one day after a U.S. Navy helicopter crashed Thursday during a routine mission in a remote mountainous area of Central California, killing two of the six crew members.

In January 2001, two soldiers stationed at Fort Irwin were asphyxiated by fumes from a propane heater in their tent during a desert training exercise. That same month, five soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas, were injured when their UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed during a night training exercise.

Fort Irwin is about 120 miles east of Los Angeles.