By IANS/EFE,
Bogota : Three soldiers were killed and 20 wounded when a soldier pulled out the pin of a grenade at an army base in northwestern Colombia, the army and doctors said.
The dead and wounded soldiers belonged to an infantry battalion based in Dabeiba, a town in Antioquia province.
The blast killed a corporal and two privates, the army said.
“A non-commissioned officer and six enlisted men sustained extensive wounds in the same incident,” it said.
A total of “23 soldiers were compromised in the incident,” said the head of the emergency room at the Dabeiba municipal hospital, Sebastian Alzate.
One of the soldiers died at the base and two others at the hospital, Alzate said, adding that six of the wounded soldiers were flown by helicopter to Monteria and 14 others were transported by ambulance to Medellin.
“The conduct of professional soldier Jefferson Garcia Alvarez, who apparently was the one responsible for activating the hand grenade, will be reviewed,” the army said.
Officials have not determined whether the grenade was set off intentionally or by accident, the army said.