Marines, sailors hurt in Bragg explosion - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Marines, sailors hurt in Bragg explosion

Eight Marines and two Navy personnel were hospitalized Monday night with shrapnel wounds and lacerations following an explosion during artillery training at Fort Bragg, N.C.

The accident happened about 8 p.m., the result of an apparent explosion of an M777A2 round while inside a howitzer, according to public affairs officer Staff Sgt. Jayson Price at Camp Lejeune, N.C. — where the training Marines are based.

The cause of the incident is under investigation, Price said, and the regiment remains in a “check firing” status, meaning they are not firing until safe training can resume.

The injured service members, all men, are members of Golf Battery, 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines. Their names have not been released.

Price said two of the injured were transported via helicopter to UNC-Chapel Hill and the other eight were transported to Womack Army Medical Center. Of the eight, five were transported via helicopter and three were transported via ambulance by emergency services personnel.

Medical Center spokeswoman Shannon Lynch said as of Tuesday morning, eight patients remained under hospital care, though she was unable to say whether those men were in the Corps or the Navy.

The Marines were conducting annual spring artillery training on Fort Bragg, located about 120 miles west of the Camp Lejeune. Fort Bragg is the closest military training area that can accept the 155mm weapons systems, according to base spokesman Tom McCollum.