Three Belgium soldiers were injured on Monday during live fire training in Scotland, the Belgian Ministry of Defence has said.
The incident happened in Tain in northeast Scotland, a part of the country where 600 Belgian troops are currently taking part in a large-scale exercise called Red Condor, which will last until 21 May.
The injured troops received first aid on site, before being transferred to two local hospitals, according to the Belgian military.
Two of them suffered serious injuries and were airlifted to hospital. As of Monday evening, they were both in a stable condition.
“One of them will undergo surgery in Scotland and will then be repatriated to Belgium,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the third soldier, who only received minor injuries, was back in the military camp by Monday evening, it added.
Approximately ten other Belgian troops sustained hearing damage as a result of the incident.
The Scottish Ambulance Service told Euronews that it arrived on the scene Monday afternoon, before proceeding to airlift two of the injured soldiers to a hospital. They used a vehicle to transport the third soldier to a different hospital.
Belgium’s Ministry of Defence said it had launched an investigation into the incident to determine exactly what happened.
“The unfortunate news reached me that three soldiers from the Third Parachute Battalion were injured during an exercise in Scotland,” Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever posted on X on Monday.
The British Ministry of Defence said that no UK military personnel were involved in the accident on Monday.
“We are aware of an incident during an exercise in Scotland involving foreign national military personnel. Our thoughts are with all those affected,” it added.
