Young Soldier Dies After Tank Overturned During Training Excercise

A 23-year-old British soldier tragically died after a tank "rolled over" him while participating in a military training exercise.

Private Jethro Watson-Pickering was killed on Friday, Oct.15, after the tank flipped and hit a tree, trapping several survivors inside.

The young soldier was part of a crew operating the vehicle in the Exercise Iron Storm, one of the largest exercises held on the military training base close to the village of Enford in Wiltshire.

Due to the presence of live ammunition on the vehicle, firefighters could not use cutting equipment, so the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers were deployed to free the soldiers.

It took several hours for the army engineers to rescue the surviving soldiers.

Private Watson-Pickering who is originally from Boosbeck, Redcar, North Yorkshire, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

"We very much regret to announce the death on Friday of Pte Jethro Watson-Pickering, of the 1st Yorks Regiment,” the Yorkshire Regiment said in a statement.

"He was from Boosbeck, Redcar, and Cleveland and was deployed on exercise on Salisbury Plain.

"The thoughts and prayers of the regimental family are with his family."

Around a dozen police officers from both Wiltshire Police and the Ministry of Defence had responded to the tragic scene, according to reports.

The Wiltshire Police confirmed that a joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive and the Army has been launched.

According to a BBC report, the British Army currently has about 76,500 soldiers, with about 15,000 of them based around the West Country.

In another unrelated incident, three US Army soldiers stationed at Fort Drum, New York, were found dead within a 48-hour period prompting an investigation at the Army’s 10th Mountain Division.

The “suspected self-harm incidents” took place on Sept. 16 and the following day, authorities said.

Private First Class Tyler S. Thomas, 22, from Cedar Hill, Texas, died on Sept. 16. The following day Staff Sgt. Angel G. Green, 24, an infantryman from California, and cannon crew member Specialist Sika M. Tapueluelu, 26, from Washington, were pronounced dead.

The investigators believe issues such as unit climate may have been a contributory factor in the suicides. However, Fort Drum spokesperson Lt. Col. Josh Jacques said all three soldiers were unconnected, adding that they were not in the same unit and possibly have not known each other.