December 12, 2017
An instructor was recently injured by an army volunteer’s failed attempt to throw a hand grenade, POP TV reported yesterday.
The volunteer, who somehow managed to throw the grenade only a meter from his shelter in a ditch, was saved by the instructor who pulled him away from the explosive device to the other side of the trench. The grenade, which weighed 350 grams, exploded four seconds after being activated.
The instructor received some minor injuries to his legs, which were not covered by his bulletproof vest, while the volunteer survived the blast shaken, but without a scratch.
Although only reported yesterday, the incident event occurred about two weeks ago at Poček training site, near Postojna. The military instructor at first declined medical attention, but was nevertheless taken to the local clinic, and from there to the University Hospital Centre in Ljubljana, where he underwent minor surgery. After being hospitalized for two days for observation, he was then released into home care.
Such accidents are rare in the Slovenian army, and this has been the only incident of its kind in the last ten years.
