Eleven active duty US soldiers are in the hospital after consuming a liquid they believed to be alcohol, but which turned out to be antifreeze, leaving two troops “seriously ill” and requiring intensive care.
The soldiers imbibed the toxic chemical while on a 10-day field exercise at Fort Bliss’s McGregor Range Complex in Texas, the Army said reported.
The soldiers drank the substance thinking it was an “alcoholic beverage.” They soon reported feeling sick and were taken to the hospital for treatment.
All poisoned personnel remain at William Beaumont Army Medical Center. Two Soldiers remain seriously ill and are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit,” Fort Bliss spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Allie Payne said in a statement, adding that the other nine are still “under observation and close lab monitoring.
Ingesting ethylene glycol can lead to rapid damage to the kidneys and even organ failure if enough is consumed.
The troops injured include one warrant officer, two non-commissioned officers and eight enlisted members, all active duty personnel assigned to the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Fort Bliss.
The exact circumstances of the incident are under investigation by local military officials as well as the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command, but Payne said there is no indication of a “threat to the greater Fort Bliss community.”
Payne noted that military regulations “prohibit the consumption of alcohol in a field training environment,” Discipline seemed to be lacking, and is supposed to be a virtue of the military.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2021.
It is extremely prohibited to drink alcohol during exercises.
Killers and alcohol form a good combination?