Two Fort Wainwright-based soldiers were killed and a dozen others were injured Monday in a military vehicle crash near Salcha.
John Pennell, a spokesman for the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, said the two soldiers who died were among 17 in a tactical vehicle that crashed on the way to the Army’s Yukon Training Area on Monday morning.
“There was a driver and assistant driver, and then 15 soldiers were traveling in the back in the transport area, and at some point the vehicle left the road and turned over,” Pennell said.
According to an Army statement, the injured were transported by road and air to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. Pennell said two of the more seriously hurt were subsequently flown to Anchorage.
He says the names of the soldiers killed in the crash will be withheld, pending notification of their families.
Alaska State Troopers, the North Pole Fire Department and Eielson Air Force Base assisted in the response.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred as the season’s first snow fell across the region.
