A serious accident occurs during a Bundeswehr exercise in Saxony-Anhalt: two Puma armored personnel carriers collide at high speed. Twelve soldiers are injured, one seriously. Defense Minister Pistorius is concerned.
Twelve soldiers were injured in a serious accident involving two Puma infantry fighting vehicles at the Bundeswehr Combat Training Center in Saxony-Anhalt (GÜZ) in the morning. One of them suffered serious injuries, said a Bundeswehr spokesman. The seriously injured man was taken to hospital in a rescue helicopter. According to available information, the two vehicles had collided at a higher speed. The GÜZ near Gardelegen is a central army training center for handling the weapon system.
According to "Spiegel", the accident occurred when reversing from a position. According to the army, the incident occurred during an exercise by Panzerlehrbrigade 9. According to the army, the unit is rehearsing mounted and dismounted combat as well as tactical counterattack procedures in combination with Leopard 2 battle tanks. A soldier suffered a serious back injury, it was reported the magazine. According to initial internal reports from the troops, several soldiers suffered broken arms.
During a visit to a Leopard unit of the Bundeswehr in Augustdorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius spoke of a terrible accident. The make him badly affected, said the SPD politician and wished the injured comrades a speedy recovery. In his brief statement, Pistorius spoke of eleven injuries, the details of the accident are now being determined. Just a few days ago, Pistorius had taken part in a target practice with Puma tanks and had driven in them himself.
The Puma tank is ultra-modern and is intended to replace the older Marder armored personnel carrier. Most recently, he made headlines, especially with failures. In the meantime, a more detailed analysis of the damage has shown that the problems could probably have been managed with better preparation and training.
