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Army punishes officers over death of soldier in tank barrel accident

ROC Central News Agency

07/24/2022 04:46 PM

Taipei, July 24 (CNA) Taiwan's Army on Sunday said it has punished and demoted several military officers after they were found to have failed to follow regulations during a CM-11 tank maintenance session that resulted in the death of one solider and the injury of an officer in southern Taiwan three days ago.

In a press release, the Army Command Headquarters said it has punished an undisclosed number of officers over the incident that resulted in the death of 24-year-old conscript Chuan Jo-yao (全若堯) and injured a 25-year-old sergeant surnamed Chiang (蔣) at the Joint Operations Training Base Command in Pingtung County on Thursday.

According to a regulation issued on Oct. 25, 2021, conscripts like Chuan, who was serving his compulsory four-month military training, are not allowed to engage in high risk tasks.

However, Chuan's superior officers, apparently disregarded the regulation and ordered him to conduct tank maintenance, which is considered a high-risk job suitable only for certified military personnel on voluntary service, according to the press release.

That decision led to the deadly accident, it added.

Meanwhile, the Army said it has summoned all commanding officers in Army brigades and higher-level units, to reiterate the policy that conscripts are not allowed to engage in high risk tasks during their four-mouth-training period to ensure similar accidents do not reoccur.

Both Chuan and Chiang were in the 564th Army Brigade under the 8th Army Corps, which is in Pingtung ahead of the nation's largest annual Han Kuang military exercises to be held from Monday through Friday.

According to a brigade spokesperson, Chuan and Chiang were both hit by the gun barrel of a CM-11 -- one inside the tank, the other outside the tank -- respectively "due to abnormality in the turret stabilization system" during the maintenance process.

Chuan was pinned underneath the gun barrel while performing maintenance inside the tank turret and later died.

Meanwhile, Chiang was hit by the gun barrel as it was moving abnormally. He remains in a stable condition in hospital, according to the Army.

The Army said Thursday that it has not yet determined what caused the tank's gun barrel to move and a special team has been organized by the Ministry of National Defense and Army Command Headquarters to investigate along with the Pingtung District Prosecutors Office.

Local media quoted unnamed military sources as saying that there was a malfunction that caused the gun barrel to move unexpectedly.

The barrel of the tank was suddenly lowered within the cabin and Chuan who was in the path of the barrel sustained severe crush injuries to his chest and abdomen, according to reports.

Taiwan's military is currently a mainly volunteer force, with conscripts serving four months in a supporting role.

(By Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/AW