A soldier has been shot dead during a live firing exercise at a military training area in Northumberland, police have said.
Officers were called to the Otterburn army training estate at 11.15pm on Monday. A male soldier had received a serious head wound and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
A cordon remained in place on Tuesday and police said they would work with the Ministry of Defence to establish the circumstances of the death. The soldier’s name has not been released, but military officials have informed his next of kin.
The armed forces minister, Mike Penning, said: “It is with great sadness that I can confirm that a soldier from the Royal Regiment of Scotland has died while taking part in a night live firing exercise at Otterburn training area in Northumberland.
“My thoughts are with the soldier’s family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time. The safety of our personnel is our absolute priority and while deaths in training don’t happen often, any death is a tragedy. As well as a police investigation, MoD accident investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident.”
A spokesperson for Landmarc, which manages the base, said they weren’t going to comment on the soldier’s death.
Earlier this year, the Unite union warned that the firing range risked becoming “a death trap” when the role of wardens, who prevented people walking into the line of fire, was withdrawn as part of a cost-cutting drive.
In the 16 years to February 2016, 135 UK armed forces personnel died while on training or exercise. Eleven of those deaths occurred during live fire exercises.
The Otterburn training estate, established in 1911 by Winston Churchill, covers about 93 sq miles of the southern Cheviot hills. It is used for training about 30,000 soldiers a year and is the UK’s second-largest firing range.
