Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed and two more were injured in a four-car crash in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday afternoon.
In an emailed statement to American Military News, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) spokesperson Jon Pennell said the soldiers were involved in a motor vehicle crash on Glenn Highway on Friday. The names of the deceased soldiers were being withheld, pending next of kin notifications.
The local news station, KTUU, reported the crash on Glenn Highway was a four-vehicle collision between Boniface Parkway and Muldoon Road at around 5:52 p.m. Officials from the Anchorage Police Department told KTUU that drivers of a Dodge Challenger and Mitsubishi Galant both lost control of their vehicles while they traveled south on the Glenn Highway. The Dodge reportedly left the road and hit a tree, while the Mitsubishi hit a Toyota Tundra that was also traveling south. The collision between the Mistubishi and Toyota caused the two vehicles to cross over the median into northbound traffic. The Mistubishi then hit a Chevrolet Silverado, causing both vehicles to catch fire.
Police told KTUU that both occupants of the Mitsubishi were declared dead on the scene.
In addition to the two soldiers injured, two other people were also hospitalized, according to KTUU.
According to the JBER statement, one of the injured soldiers was still at Providence Medical Center receiving additional care as of Saturday, while the other has been released.
Anchorage Police Department was investigating the crash as of Saturday.
Emergency officials closed down traffic in both directions on Glenn Highway for several hours while the Major Collision Investigation Unit worked on the scene.
The deadly crash comes just days after another soldier was killed while training near Anchorage. The soldier, identified as Staff Sgt. Seth Michael Plant, was killed by a bear while training in a remote area of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Investigators believe a female brown bear with cubs killed Plant in a defensive attack.
Sgt. Julian Christopher Francis, another soldier assigned to JBER was shot and killed near a swimming pool at an Anchorage-area hotel in April.
In January, Army Spc. Karolina Ferrer-Padilla was killed after a mobile kitchen unit rolled over and landed on her.
Army Master Sgt. Wesley Woods, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, died earlier in January after 35 minutes of CPR efforts by first responders to resuscitate him.
Two more soldiers were found dead in their vehicles over a single weekend in Alaska in November. One soldier, Sgt. Miles Jordan Tarron, was also assigned to the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division at JBER. The other soldier, Spc. Isaiah Nicholas Oneal, was assigned to Fort Wainwright.
Sgt. Christian Joseph D’Andrea, another soldier assigned to Fort Wainwright, was found dead at his off-base home earlier on in November.
