Bergen Training Area
Tank accident in the heath: killed officer was evaluator of the exercise
Two people died on the Bergen military training area in Lower Saxony when a battle tank collided with a military off-road vehicle (archive photo)
© Clemens Niesner / DPA
The officer who was killed in a tank accident in the Lüneburg Heath was an assessor of the exercise. The second dead person was his driver, a civilian employee of the Bundeswehr.
The officer killed in a tank accident in the Lüneburg Heath was used as an observer and assessor of an exercise. That said a Bundeswehr spokesman on Wednesday in Munster at the headquarters of the armored forces school. “The armored troop school is in mourning,” said its commander, Brigadier General Ullrich Spannuth. All soldiers are deeply affected and dismayed.
Both vehicles were in motion
The 31-year-old officer and his 62-year-old driver were killed in the accident at the Bergen military training area on Tuesday. Her military off-road vehicle and a Leopard 2 main battle tank had collided for an as yet unexplained cause. Both vehicles were in motion, said the spokesman. The officer served as an instructor in the armored force school. The driver was a civil employee of the Bundeswehr.
In the tank there were four soldiers who would receive psychological care after the accident, it said. According to reports, 200 soldiers with 50 military vehicles took part in the exercise. It took place as part of an officer training course for platoon leaders in the tank troops. The course was canceled and the participants returned to their home locations.