The death toll of an incident earlier this week involving an army tank has risen to four with the death of Lieutenant Wu Te-wei (吳得瑋), the tank’s commander, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital said early yesterday.
Wu died of multiple organ failure late on Thursday night, and he was pronounced dead in the presence of his family and girlfriend, the hospital said. He was 25.
The officer had been kept on life support since Tuesday, when he was pulled from his overturned CM-11 tank that crashed into a swollen river in rural Pingtung County.
Three other crew members died shortly after the vehicle overturned, which happened as the vehicle was moving down a slope. They were Sergeant Chen Shih-kun (陳世坤); Corporal Chen Ping-yi (陳秉逸), the gunner; and Private Chang Chih-wei (張志偉), the loader.
The tank’s driver, Private First Class Yang Yen-lin (楊炎霖), survived with only minor scratches.
He has been questioned by prosecutors and now faces possible charges for causing the deaths of others in the execution of his occupational duties, according to the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office.
If found guilty, the 25-year-old conscript could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Yang has told prosecutors that the brakes of the 45-tonne tank malfunctioned as the vehicle was approaching a bridge from the inclined country road on its way back to base after a live-fire exercise.
Citing Yang’s initial account of the incident, which occurred late on Tuesday morning, the army has said that the tank’s left track got stuck while the right track continued to operate, causing the vehicle to veer off the bridge and plunge into the river upside down.
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