THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130504
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BOWLING GREEN, VA. LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Two Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., were killed and 13 others injured Wednesday night when several explosive devices were accidentally detonated on a firing range at the Army's Fort A.P. Hill.
The accident occurred shortly before dusk during a training exercise involving small land mines, said Maj. Dan Schmidt, an Army spokesman.
The victims were in a group of about 20 Marines firing charges that detonate the mines on a range at the sprawling base in Caroline County, about 60 miles south of Washington.
Schmidt said authorities were unsure whether the Marines were injured by the charges or by an exploding mine.
The identities of the Marines, all of whom are from Camp Lejeune, were being withheld pending notification of relatives, Schmidt said.
Ten were being treated at Mary Washington Hospital in nearby Fredericksburg.
None suffered life-threatening injuries, nursing supervisor Kathleen Kenny said.
One burn victim was flown by helicopter to Medical College of Virginia Hospitals in Richmond. The hospital was not told to expect any more victims, superintendent James Nogle said.
The victim was being examined in MCV's emergency room, and no condition report was available, Nogle said.
The location of the other two victims could not be immediately determined.
Authorities at A.P. Hill referred all questions to Schmidt, a spokesman at nearby Fort Belvoir.
Schmidt said it was a routine mine-clearing exercise on what is known as Range 77. The exercise, described as common for infantry units, involves equipment that launches the charges that detonate the mines.
The unit involved was the 3rd Battalion of the 8th Marines, Schmidt said. He was unsure how long the battalion has been at A.P. Hill.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT MILITARY EXPLOSION FATALITIES by CNB