Eleven soldiers at a US military base in Texas have been hospitalized, with two in important situation, right after drinking antifreeze they mistook for alcohol, Army officials stated on Friday.
The soldiers from Fort Bliss in El Paso have been finishing a 10-day field instruction exercising when the incident occurred on Thursday, the Army’s public affairs workplace stated in a statement.
The substance detected in lab benefits from the sickened soldiers was ethylene glycol, typically identified as antifreeze, the Army stated.
“Initial reports indicate soldiers consumed this substance, thinking they were drinking an alcoholic beverage,” the Army statement added. “Army and Fort Bliss regulations prohibit the consumption of alcohol in a field training environment. Initial toxicology results indicate the soldiers are experiencing ethylene glycol poisoning.”
Antifreeze ingestion can lead to serious kidney harm and death, Army officials stated at a news conference at Fort Bliss.
The military stated earlier that the soldiers fell ill right after “consuming a substance acquired outside of authorized food supply distribution channels.”
Antifreeze has been identified to lead to accidental deaths and has been made use of in murder mystery novels and in actual-life murder plots, as it can effortlessly be mistaken for alcohol.
The hospitalized soldiers contain one warrant officer, two non-commissioned officers and eight enlisted service members, the Army stated. The Army did not release their names.
All remained hospitalized, the Army stated.
Fort Bliss is the house to the Army’s 1st Armored Division, nicknamed “Old Ironsides,” with about 17,000 soldiers.
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