Two members of the U.S. military were killed on Tuesday from injuries sustained during a “weather-related incident” on Yonah Mountain in northern Georgia, the Army said in a statement. Three others service members were injured.
The Army said that the deceased were soldiers with Fort Benning and The Maneuver Center of Excellence. Their names were not released and further details about the incident were not available.
The three injured service members were treated by Army medics and taken to a hospital, where they remain, the Army said.
The Army sometimes conducts training on Yonah Mountain, which is about 90 miles northeast of Atlanta and about 170 miles northeast of Fort Benning.
Ty Vaughn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga., said by phone that about 3 p.m. on Tuesday there was a severe thunderstorm warning for an area near Yonah Mountain. The storm produced strong winds that damaged trees near the mountain, he added.
The deaths marked the second time in a month that service members were killed as a result of weather in Georgia. On July 20, one soldier was killed and nine others were injured in a lightning strike at the Fort Gordon Army base in Georgia. That episode occurred in a training area at the base and a time when strong thunderstorms were in the area.
Christine Chung contributed reporting.
