A US soldier was killed by a bear in Alaska during a training exercise at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Tuesday.
JBER’s officials revealed that the victim was with a group of soldiers training when the bear attacked them.
The beast remains at large with troopers hunting for it. It was not immediately clear whether the group’s equipment included a bear spray.
The identity of the fallen soldier is being withheld pending next-of-kin’s notification.
Tuesday’s incident is reminiscent of two similar encounters between bears and soldiers in Alaska that occurred in 2014 though none of them was deadly.
Alaska health officials said that 68 people were hospitalized after sustaining injuries during bears’ attacks between 2000 and 2017 while 10 people were mortally wounded.
