The accident of an artillery truck in which a Spanish soldier has died

@DefAviation ES 10·20·2023 · 21:26 0

Yesterday, the Brigade "Galicia" VII (BRILAT) of the Spanish Army lost one of its soldiers due to a traffic accident in Langa de Duero (Soria).

A Spanish soldier of the Special Operations Command (MOE) dies due to an accident
Farewell to AJEMA Admiral General Antonio Martorell, a sailor at the service of Spain

As reported by the Firefighters of Aranda de Duero, at 4:05 p.m. this Thursday afternoon they responded to an accident at kilometer 244 of the N-122 highway, due to the fall of a military truck down an embankment. "We freed an injured person and helped transfer another deceased person to the funeral car," said the firefighters, who have published this photo of the accident truck.

At 7:30 p.m., the Spanish Army announced the death of Soldier Iván Mejuto Rodríguez. He belonged to the Field Artillery Group VII (GACA VII), part of the BRILAT and based in Figueirido (Pontevedra). The accident occurred upon return from the Gamma Azor 23 exercise, carried out at the CENAD San Gregorio in Zaragoza and in which more than 2,000 Spanish soldiers participated, as well as British soldiers from the First Battalion of the London Guards.

The Army has communicated that in the same accident "sergeant Molina, assigned to the same unit, has been injured, and is currently admitted to the University Hospital of Burgos. Sergeant Molina was traveling as a companion in the accident vehicle." The Spanish Army has indicated that "the military truck driven by soldier Iván Mejuto left the road, for unknown reasons, and fell down a gap of about five meters high."

Soldier Iván Mejuto Rodríguez was a native of La Coruña and lived in Pontevedra. He entered the Army on October 23, 2006, after passing the basic military training phase, and was stationed at the Academy of Segovia Artillery and in the Logistics Group VII of the Brigade "Galicia" VII. He was awarded the Bronze Cross of the Cross for Constancy in Service, the Commemorative Medal of Operation "Balmis", for his work during the fight against the pandemic, and the Cross of Merit Military with White Badge.

The accident truck is a 10-ton Iveco-Pegaso M.250.37WM Specific Tractor Vehicle (VET). It is a truck specially designed to haul heavy artillery pieces. The VII Field Artillery Group (GACA VII) has several of them to tow the Santa Bárbara Sistemas 155/52 APU-SIAC howitzers. The rear box of these trucks can carry up to 32 155 mm ammunition, divided into four compartments.

Each Field Artillery Group of the Army has a SIAC battery, made up of six 155/52 APU-SIAC howitzers and as many VET trucks as the one that was injured. I took these photos that you see here of one of the VET M.250.37WM of the GACA VII in a BRILAT exhibition in Pontevedra in 2019.

My condolences to the family and comrades of the deceased soldier.

Give Lord eternal rest. Let perpetual light shine upon him. Rest in peace.

Honor demanded and they obeyed,
Duty required it and they complied with it;
With their blood the company was signed
With their efforts they made the country great.

They were big and strong, because they were
Faithful to the oath they swore.
That's why they fought like brave men,
And they died like heroes.

Dying for the country was his destiny,
Love Spain its eternal passion,
Serve in the Armies his vocation and fate.

They did not want to serve another Flag,
They did not want to walk another path,
They didn't know how to live any other way.

---

Main photo: Bomberos Aranda de Duero.