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| Image via Wikipedia |
Three Italian soldiers were killed on 20th
February 2012 when the Lynx VTLM vehicle they were in overturned while
crossing a river, trapping three of the crew inside.
The incident happened about 20km
south-west of Shindand during a recovery and rescue operation of another
unit that was stranded by bad weather.
The three soldiers, all serving with 66 Military Aircraft Regiment were named as:
Chief Corporal Francesco Currò, 1st Corporal Luca Valente and 1st Corporal Francesco Paolo Messineo.
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| L-R: Francesco Messineo, Francesco Curro, Luca Valente |
A fourth soldier was injured in the accident and is currently in a stable condition in hospital.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Three Italian soldiers died Monday in a car accident in western Afghanistan, officials said.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano issued a condolence message expressing his "deep emotion" over the news of the deaths in Herat province.
NATO forces had previously said three soldiers died in "an operation" but Napolitano's statement confirmed that they were killed in an accident.
The Italian soldiers were in a convoy going to survey a canal project in Herat's Shindand district when their vehicle crashed into a canal, said provincial police spokesman Rauf Ahmadi.
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the original ISAF release:
2012-02-C-020
For Immediate Release
KABUL, Afghanistan (Feb. 20) – Three International Security Assistance Force service members died during an operation in western Afghanistan today.
It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities
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UPDATE1:
By BNO News
KABUL/ROME (BNO NEWS) -- Three Italian service members were killed on Monday when their armored vehicle overturned while crossing a stream in western Afghanistan, the Italian Ministry of Defense said. It raises the number of Italian troops killed in Afghanistan so far to 45.
Officials at the Ministry of Defense in the Italian capital of Rome said the accident happened about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) southwest of Shindand, a town in the Shindand district of Herat province, when an armored vehicle overturned, trapping the soldiers inside. Three soldiers were killed while a fourth was taken to a hospital with unknown injuries.
Italian president Giorgio Napolitano offered his condolences in a brief statement released by his office. "[Napolitano] learned with deep emotion the news of the accident which killed three Italian soldiers engaged in the international mission for peace and stability in Afghanistan, expressing his feelings for joint participation in the pain of the families of the fallen and voicing the deep condolences of the country," it said.
Washington Time
Kabul Time
London Time
