Four military personnel were killed and 39 injured in a fire at CFB Wainwright military base in Alberta, Canada. CTV News reports this, writes UNN.
Details
According to the publication, "officials had known about the fire at CFB Wainwright for several hours before it rapidly spread to a training area where soldiers were taking part in exercises, resulting in the deaths of 4 members of the Canadian Armed Forces and injuring dozens of others."
Canadian Major General L.V. Rutland told reporters during a briefing on Sunday afternoon, October 18, that the fire broke out while soldiers were participating in exercises ahead of a deployment to Latvia.
He said several training activities were underway when, at around 4:00 p.m. local time, "a grass fire broke out on the training area."
Rutland noted that officials at the base had known about the fire for several hours, but "unusually strong winds" caused it to "spread rapidly" and change direction toward the administrative area of the training ground.
"The fire was a kilometer away when the wind changed. It is abnormal for a fire to move a kilometer in 30–60 seconds," he said.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said that "39 people were hospitalized following the fire on Saturday, and at least 19 of them are in critical condition."
The Department of National Defence said there were no indications that the fire and explosion at Wainwright base were a terrorist attack.
Rutland said the Canadian Armed Forces would investigate the incident.
"I will be candid: with this number of casualties and the complexities involved, it will take neither a day nor a week," he told reporters.
Four NATO military personnel were injured during exercises in Latvia26.09.26, 12:01