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One person dead in accident involving armored personnel carrier near West Point training site

Posted at 8:20 AM, Jun 06, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-06 10:20:12-04

By Evan Simko-Bednarski and Eli Watkins, CNN

One person has died in connection with an accident reported by West Point on Thursday morning near a training site, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

The West Point Military Academy said Thursday morning there had been “an accident in the vicinity of the Camp Natural Bridge training site.”

The accident involved an armored personnel carrier, according to a person reached on the West Point Military Police line. Katie Felder, a spokeswoman for West Point, told CNN there was an accident but could not immediately provide further details.

New York state trooper Steven Nevel said troopers were headed to the location of the accident as needed.

The US military academy is located in New York, a 45-minute drive away from New York City, according to the academy.

Retired Major Gen. James “Spider” Marks, a CNN military analyst, said cadets go to the site during the summer for “vigorous military training.”

Cadets take part in field training exercises during their second summer at West Point. That training “is designed to familiarize and train each Third Class cadet in basic and advanced individual Soldier skills,” according to the West Point website.

“Training is conducted in combined arms operations, introducing the cadets to the combat, combat support and combat service support branches of the U.S.,” the site says.