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Two Bangladesh Army soldiers were killed and an officer was seriously injured after a Chinese-origin Type 59 tank reportedly exploded during a field firing exercise in Chattogram on Wednesday. The incident took place at the Hathazari Field Firing Range while soldiers were carrying out firing drills from the tank.
The accident was reported by the Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR), which said necessary steps were being taken to determine what caused the explosion. The exact reason for the incident has not yet been confirmed.
Two soldiers killed in tank explosion
The two soldiers inside the tank were killed in the accident, while a Bangladesh Army officer suffered serious injuries, The Daily Star reported.
The injured officer is being airlifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka for advanced treatment.
Army probes cause of Type 59 tank blast
The tank involved in the incident was reportedly a Chinese-origin Type 59 used by the Bangladesh Army. The explosion happened during the firing exercise at the Hathazari Field Firing Range in Chattogram.
At this stage, there is no confirmed information on what triggered the blast. The ISPR said steps are underway to establish the cause of the accident.
No further details about the circumstances leading to the explosion were immediately available.
A separate Chinese rocket mishap was reported last month
The Bangladesh Army tank incident also comes against the backdrop of a separate failure involving Chinese-origin space technology last month. A Chinese Long March 7A rocket carrying the ChinaSat-4B satellite exploded shortly after liftoff from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in southern China, according to a Reuters report.
The rocket took off at 8:02 pm Beijing time before encountering what Chinese state news agency Xinhua described as a “flight anomaly”. Footage circulating on social media appeared to show the rocket exploding near the coastal spaceport around 85 seconds after launch. The mission subsequently failed, while authorities said the cause was still being analysed.
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