SAN DIEGO: An explosion of live ordnance caused Wednesday’s accidental deaths of four US Marines while they were conducting routine maintenance in an artillery zone at Camp Pendleton in California, a base spokesman said on Thursday.
The type of shell that exploded on Wednesday morning at the Zulu Impact Area and how exactly it was detonated remain under investigation, the spokesman, Jeff Nyhart said.
The range, located deep in the interior of the sprawling base, is used as a target zone for artillery and aerial bombing practice, and requires routine maintenance to keep it clear of obstructions and unexploded rounds.
The four dead Marines were ordnance disposal technicians based at Camp Pendleton, not new recruits, and were handling unexploded ordnance when the blast occurred, Nyhart said.
The men were identified as Staff Sergeant Mathew Marsh, 28, of Long Beach, California; Gunnery Sergeant Gregory Mullins, 31, of Bayou L Ourse, Louisiana; Sergeant Miguel Ortiz, 27, of Vista, California; and Staff Sergeant Eric Summers, 32, of Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
No live-fire exercises were under way at the site at the time of the accident, and no shells were being fired into the area from neighbouring target ranges, he said. More than a dozen Marines and sailors have died at Pendleton since 2004 in various mishaps ranging from helicopter crashes to accidental shootings, according to Los Angeles-based City News Service.
Seven Marines were killed in an accidental munitions depot blast in Nevada in March. In May, a US Navy SEAL was killed in a vehicle accident during a training exercise at Fort Knox in Kentucky.
reuters
