Friday, September 14, 2007

UPDATE: Vehicle accident claims 7 Soldiers

Friday, September 14, 2007
As reported earlier, seven Soldiers were killed and 11 wounded on Sept. 10, when the vehicle they were traveling in was involved in a single vehicle accident in the north Baghdad suburb of Shula.

The accident occurred as elements of the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, attached to 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, currently attached to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, were returning from a successful raid in Shula where they had conducted a precision operation to capture extremists responsible for attacks on US and Iraqi Soldiers.

The unit was returning to base after the raid when their vehicle apparently lost control and fell approximately 50 feet from a highway overpass.

The vehicle had three personnel in the cab of the truck and 15 US personnel in the armored troop carrier on the back of the vehicle.

Also in the vehicle were three Iraqi national detainees.The vehicle they were riding in was an LMTV armored cargo vehicle with an armored troop carrier on the back of it, commonly referred to as a “Hunter Box.”

This vehicle is regularly used by 1-325 AIR to transport Soldiers, equipment, and detainees.
Of the 11 US personnel wounded, two have been returned to duty with a third expected to return within a week. The rest of the wounded were evacuated to Landstuhl Army Medical Clinic in Germany.

Two of the detainees were killed and the third was injured. The injured detainee is currently undergoing medical treatment at a hospital in Baghdad.

A full investigation of the accident is underway.

(From press release #20070914-03 by Multi-National Corps-Iraq - Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory)

No comments: