Two US Army soldiers killed and three injured on Georgia mountain

US Army soldiers have been confirmed dead following an exercise on Georgia’s Yonah mountain  (Fox5)
US Army soldiers have been confirmed dead following an exercise on Georgia’s Yonah mountain (Fox5)

Two US Army soldiers were confirmed dead and three others were injured following an exercise on Georgia’s Yonah mountain, authorities said.

The deaths took place on Tuesday on northern Georgia’s Yonah mountain, a peak located about 75 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta, Georgia.

Yonah mountain is some 170 miles northeast of Fort Benning, where the soldiers were based. Authorities reportedly said the soldiers were part the US Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning,

As ABC News reported, the two soldiers died in what authorities called a weather related event. No further details about their deaths were released on Tuesday however.

The announcement came after as a weather warning was issued for parts of northern Georgia, which was forecast to experience heavy rains and winds of up to 60mph on Tuesday, Fox5 reported.

Emergency services were called to the scene following the incident and the three injured soldiers were transferred to a nearby hospital following treatment from an Army medic, reports said.

Their names and those of the two killed have not been released.

It is the second weather related incident involving US Army soldiers stationed in Georgia in recent weeks following the death of a solider at Fort Gordon on 20 July in a lightning strike.

Nine other soldiers were injured in that strike.

The Independent has contacted the US Army for comment.