The Ministry of National Defense expressed today (16th) that, at around 10:30am, a tank belonging to the 564 Armor Brigade had accidentally crashed into the Wangsha River on its way back to military base following the completion of an exercise mission at the armed forces joint training base, causing an unfortunate accident that landed 4 soldiers in emergency treatment.

After receiving the report, Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-Kuan expressed his concern and promptly ordered Chief of General Staff, General Yen Teh-Fa to lead a task force to investigate the incident and identify the accident causes, as well as offer their condolences to the families of the soldiers and assistance in handling the subsequent matters.

The Ministry indicated that First Lieutenant Wu, Staff Sergeant Chen, Corporal Chen, and Private First Class Chang are still receiving emergency treatment in the hospital. The Medical Affairs Bureau, MND, has assigned the deputy director of Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital, Colonel Wang Ding-Wei to lead a surgical and trauma medical team to the hospital in Hengchun to offer their assistance in medical treatment. In addition, the Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital will also be providing the driver, Private Specialist Yang, who had suffered minor injuries, with receiving comprehensive medical services.