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 | | Thursday, 7 February, 2002, 12:25 GMT Family 'appalled' by soldier shooting  The incident happened on the Sennybridge army ranges The family of a soldier fatally shot during an exercise at Sennybridge training ranges four years ago have said they are "shocked and appalled" that another soldier has been injured. An unnamed 27-year-old infantryman - shot at around 1400GMT on Wednesday - was airlifted to hospital having suffered injuries to his body and arm. It was almost four years to the day since Richard King was killed when live ammunition got mixed up with blanks during a training exercise. His family claim the army have not learned the lessons of past casualties and said they should now reconsider their policy of using live ammunitions in training exercises. Private King's sister Elizabeth Bull claimed that the latest accident shows army procedures are failing. But the Army have said that until their investigations are concluded they will not know exactly what happened - but they have said they believe this was an accident. Stressing that such incidents were rare, an Army spokesman defended the use of live ammunition and said it had to be used to train soldiers for real-life eventualities.
The Army's Special Investigation Branch and Dyfed Powys Police have begun an inquiry in to the incident which unfolded as the unnamed English regiment took part in an advanced training exercise. Meanwhile, the soldier - who is not thought to have sustained any life-threatening injuries - is being treated at Morriston Hospital in Swansea. "He was engaged in a live fire training manoeuvre with a small number of his regiment when what appears to have been an accident took place," an Army spokesman at the range said. "It was more advanced than firing at targets, it involves crawling up rivers and holding positions, it is fairly advanced. "His unit were carrying out low level infantry exchanges when there was a gunshot which resulted in a soldier being injured. The spokesman said the area where the shooting happened in had already been seen by both civilian and military police. The soldiers involved in the training exercise will also be interviewed by military police officers later on Wednesday, said the spokesman. | |
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