A military truck crashed in North Carolina on Wednesday afternoon, killing two US Marines and injuring two others.
The accident took place at the intersection of North Carolina Highway 210 and US Route 17 around 1 pm when the Marines were travelling from Jacksonville’s Camp Lejeune.
Authorities believe the accident occurred when the driver of the truck, which weighed seven tons, attempted to make a right turn very quickly, resulting in the vehicle overturning.
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There were 19 Marines, assigned to the 2nd Marines Logistics Group at Camp Lejeune, inside the truck at the time of the accident.
“While making a right turn, the vehicle, it was a 7-ton military vehicle, lost control and overturned, ejecting the Marines that were in the back of the truck out into the roadway,” North Carolina Highway Patrol Sgt. Devin Rich said at an evening press conference.
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While two Marines were declared dead at the scene the other two were rushed to a local hospital for treatment. Their condition was not known. The servicemembers’ identities have not yet been released.
The Highway Patrol’s Reconstruction unit is currently working to investigate the accident and the vehicle’s speed at the time of the accident.
“They are in the process of doing the measurements needed to attain a speed of an approximate speed that they were travelling. We do know it was a little too fast for the right turn that they were attempting to make,” Rich said.
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Meanwhile, Sen. Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, took to Twitter to say that he and wife Susan “are praying for the families of the Marines who were tragically killed in an accident at Camp Lejeune, & we are praying for the full recovery of the Marines who were injured.”
“God Bless our service members who put their lives at risk every day to protect our nation,” he added.
