MILITARY MISHAP:The driver was able to escape the tank with minor injuries, but four men were trapped in the gun turret. The other survivor remains in a coma
Taipei Times
Date: Aug 17, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
An army CM-11 tank toppled into a creek in Pingtung County as it was returning to base
A CM-11 tank lies in the Wangsha River in Pingtung County yesterday after toppling off the bridge and landing upside down. Three soldiers were killed in the incident. Photo: CNA
from a training exercise yesterday morning, killing three of the five soldiers onboard, the army said.
The tank fell off a bridge into the Wangsha River (網紗溪), landing upside down.
The army quoted the driver, Private First Class Yang Yen-lin (楊炎霖), as saying that the tank’s left track was stuck and the brake was not functioning, and the incident occurred as he was making an attempt to turn left to cross the bridge.
Yang sustained only minor injuries and pulled himself out of the tank. The four others, who were inside the gun turret, could not escape through the turret’s hatches because the tank was upside down, he said. [FULL STORY]
