Two Soldiers Die in Heat While Training In Brecon Beacons

Two soldiers die in heat while training in Brecon Beacons
Two Territorial Army soldiers died and a third was left critically ill when they collapsed during gruelling military training on the hottest day of the year.

Two soldiers have died in heat while training in Brecon Beacons Photo: ALAMY
By Ben Farmer, Defence Correspondent
3:25PM BST 14 Jul 2013
The unnamed soldiers were taking part in an exercise in the Welsh mountains where the Army carries out infantry training and selection for the elite SAS.

A total of six men collapsed during arduous physical exercise in the Brecon Beacons, in Powys, Mid Wales.

The men, aged from 19 to 25, were rescued from a hillside on Saturday afternoon by an RAF Sea King helicopter and taken to hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, but two could not be saved. A third soldier remains in hospital and the rest were released.

One defence source said the men “fell unconscious during strenuous physical exercise” close to Pen y Fan, which at 2,900 feet is the highest mountain in South Wales. All were in the Territorial Army and the heat was being investigated as a factor in the deaths.

A military source said the exercise the men were taking part in was "intense" and their deaths did not involve firearms or a fall.

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The men died in an area close to the Storey Arms activity centre, a well-known meeting place for walkers heading up Pen y Fan.

The Ministry of Defence declined to comment on reports last night that the men were part of a 100-strong try out for a reserve unit of the SAS.

Selection exercises for TA special forces include a "loaded march" covering 14 miles in roughly four hours while carrying a rifle and equipment weighing 20kg.

Saturday was the hottest day of the year and the Met Office recorded the temperature at nearby Sennybridge as 83F (28C), with little breeze.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, said: “The MoD can confirm that it is working with Dyfed Powys Police to investigate an incident during a training exercise on the Brecon Beacons on Saturday in which two members of military personnel died.

"The two servicemen's next of kin have been informed.”

The Army’s Infantry Battle School in Brecon provides tough training courses for officers and soldiers in the rugged terrain of the Welsh mountains. The Brecon Beacons is also the site of the punishing selection process for the SAS. Training often includes heavily laden marches carried out against the clock.

Earlier this year an army captain was found dead on a snow-covered Corn Du mountain. It was thought that Rob Carnegie had been taking part in a long distance march in freezing conditions in the Brecon Beacons as part of the selection process for the SAS, when he collapsed and died.

Matthew Dorrance, Mayor of Brecon, said: "In one way we've been blessed with the weather but for people working in this heat, they're tough conditions.

"It's incredibly sad for the friends and family of the people who have lost their lives.

"We're proud of our links with the military in the town and our thoughts are with the person who is injured.”

Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed they were helping with investigations and said the coroner had been made aware of the deaths.

Major Alan Davies, who was involved in planning during the first Gulf War, told the BBC that the area has one of the most challenging terrains military personnel can encounter.

He said: "On one end of the spectrum you have cadets being taken for mountain walking and at the other end of the spectrum the SAS use it,"

He added that the three men may have been carrying very heavy equipment and working to a deadline, which meant they would have been pushing themselves very hard.

David Davies, the Conservative MP for Monmouth, said: "It's a terrible tragedy, and I'm sure the Army will hold a full investigation and be doing absolutely everything to find out what went wrong, and prevent that from happening again."