Two members of the US military were killed and three others were injured Tuesday during a “weather-related incident” on Yonah Mountain in northern Georgia, the military said in a statement.
Joe Cole, a spokesman for the U.S. military, did not elaborate on what caused the episode or say whether the victims were specifically members of the U.S. military. The Army said in its statement that Fort Benning was mourning the deaths of the two service members.
The three injured service members were treated by Army medics and taken to a hospital, the Army said. His conditions were not shared by Mr. Cole.
The names of the victims were not released.
The military sometimes conducts training at Mount Yonah, which is about 90 miles northeast of Atlanta and about 170 miles northeast of Fort Benning.
Ty Vaughn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga., said by phone that a severe thunderstorm warning was in place for an area near Yonah Mountain at about 3 p.m. Tuesday. The storm produced strong winds that damaged trees near the mountain, he added.
The deaths marked the second time in a month that service members died due to weather in Georgia. On July 20, one soldier was killed and nine others were injured in a lightning strike at Fort Gordon Army Base in Georgia. That episode occurred in a training area on the base and at a time when there were severe thunderstorms in the area.