CARDIFF, Wales, July 15 (UPI) -- Two soldiers died during a training exercise on the Brecon Beacons mountain range in South Wales on the hottest day of year, officials said.
About 100 Territorial Army volunteer soldiers participated in the exercise Saturday, which involved them carrying 50-pound backpacks, weapons, ammunition, while in full uniform, The Mirror reported.
Temperatures in Wales during the exercise soared to 84 degrees, the hottest day in the area so far this year.
Six soldiers fell ill during the training, two of whom died. One soldier remains hospitalized.
"This should not have happened. Questions are already being asked at the very highest level," said a Special Forces official, whose name was not reported. "This is a case of the people succumbing to being affected by the training that they were doing. It was particularly hot in that part of the country and they were doing an exercise that would require a lot of physical exertion. All of these men were taken ill, they were not wounded in any way."
A Ministry of Defense spokesman said an investigation into the incident is underway.
"We are working with police to investigate an incident during a training exercise on the Brecon Beacons in which two members of military personnel died," the spokesman said.
