A soldier who died during an army training exercise on Salisbury Plain on Friday has been named as Pte Jethro Watson-Pickering.
The 23-year-old was from the village of Boosbeck, North Yorkshire, and had been “part of a crew operating an armoured vehicle”, a spokesperson from Wiltshire police said.
“The Yorkshire Regiment very much regrets to announce the death on Friday 15th October of Pte Jethro Watson-Pickering … The thoughts and prayers of the regimental family are with his family,” his regiment tweeted on Sunday.
Two fire engines and a heavy rescue unit were deployed to the scene of the accident in response to what the Dorset and Wiltshire fire service described as a “road traffic collision”.
Local media reported that Watson-Pickering sustained significant injuries after a tank rolled over during a training exercise. The Guardian has not been able to independently verify these claims.
The incident is now the subject of a joint investigation between Wiltshire police, the army and the Health and Safety Executive.
There have been 150 deaths of UK armed forces members in military exercises from January 2000 to August 2021, according to MoD statistics.
