Two soldiers killed in Louisiana exercise

FORT POLK, La., Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Two soldiers were killed Thursday when they were run over by an M-1 tank during a urban combat training exercise at Fort Polk, an Army spokesman said.

The soldiers assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) based at Fort Campbell, Ky., were flown by air ambulance to the Fort Polk hospital where they died from their injuries, said Ron Elliott, a Fort Polk spokesman.

The accident occurred about 5:20 a.m. "when an M-1 tank ran over the soldiers," Elliott said. The two were not part of the tank crew but were in the vicinity of the tanks, he said.

An assault was under way on a mock village as part of an urban combat training exercise being conducted at the sprawling Army post in central Louisiana.

About 4,000 soldiers are undergoing training at Fort Polk. Most are from the 101st Airborne division, but some other units are from Fort Riley, Kan.

Army safety experts from Fort Rucker, Ala., are expected at the post Thursday to begin an investigation of the accident, Elliott said.

The names of the victims were not released because next of kin have not been notified.

"Our sympathies go out to the families," Elliott said. "The U.S. Army lost two great soldiers this morning."

The 101st Airborne is a rapid-deployment, air-assault division trained for assignment anywhere around the globe with 36 hours. Units of the division recently returned from a deployment in Afghanistan.