A lieutenant and a soldier were killed and four soldiers injured by the accidental denotation of a hand grenade in the western Colombian department of Cauca, Colombian media reported Thursday.
In addition to the casualties and injuries to the soldiers of the Army’s 3rd Brigade, the detonation which occured 7:30PM Wednesday partially destroyed a helicopter at the St Helena military base in the rural municipality of Corinth.
The injured soldiers, among them two machine gun handlers, were sent to hospital in Cali, the capital of bordering Valle del Cauca department where they remain under observation.
According to authorities the soldiers were supplying troops when the moving of weaponary caused the unintentional detonation.
A Technical Committee of the army was sent to the military base in Miranda to establish responsibility for the detonation and establish the facts.