The heatwave in Britain has claimed lives.
Two soldiers were ‘marched to death’ in a gruelling SAS selection exercise on the hottest day of the year.
The soldiers, from the Territorial Army (which is soon to have its name changed to the Army Reserve and be increased in size), were among six men to collapse with heat exhaustion in the Brecon Beacons mountain range.
All six were flown to hospital where two were pronounced dead and a third was fighting for his life.
Two soldiers died in the Brecon Beacons during a training exercise on what was the hottest day of the year, the Ministry of Defence has said (file picture)
Around 100 Territorial Army troops took part in Saturday’s exercise in rugged terrain 2,900ft above sea level, close to Pen Y Fan, the highest peak in South Wales and southern Britain.
Commanders put them through brutal physical trials, including long runs in body armour while carrying weapons, ammunition and battlefield equipment weighing more than 100lbs.
But, as temperatures hit 86F, the casualties started to pile up. An RAF Sea King helicopter was deployed immediately along with a civilian air ambulance to ferry the victims to hospital at Merthyr Tydfil.
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Last night the tragedy was being investigated by the Ministry of Defence and Dyfed-Powys Police. The families have been informed.
An MOD spokeswoman said they will not cancel any exercises as a result of the deaths, but would not say whether any extra safety measures had been implemented in the wake of the tragedy.
She said: 'Routine exercises will continue.'
One Army officer said: ‘The troops are desperate to prove they are up to joining the SAS and push themselves harder and harder. They are encouraged to by the instructors who are unforgiving.
‘There is going to be a huge inquiry into what happened because on the face of it these lads look like they’ve been marched to death.
‘More should be done to ensure these needless tragedies don’t occur.’
The men, who were seeking entry to an SAS reserve unit, collapsed in hills near the town of Brecon.
A defence source said: ‘It is a case of the people succumbing to the training that they were doing.
'We have health and safety procedures in place for everything but that must be balanced against the fact we are training people to go into extremely challenging environments.
‘We don’t go out of our way to kill people but we have to put them in tough situations because that is what they will be facing on operations.’
The Brecon Beacons are a notoriously inhospitable area for army training operations and are used by both regular units and the special forces.
Sources indicated the tragedy was caused by heat exhaustion. A third soldier remains in hospital
The men became ill close to Pen y Fan (Welsh for "top of this place"), which at 2,900 feet is the highest mountain in South Wales and southern Britain
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Matthew Dorrance, Mayor of Brecon, said the town was reeling from the tragedy.
He said: 'There is a historic link between Brecon and the armed forces and we're proud of that. In fact, various regiments have the freedom of the county and Brecon and news like this shakes us to our core.
'More or less everyone in Brecon knows someone who has served and the community is shocked by what's happened, and deeply moved.'
In January, Captain Rob Carnegie was found dead on the mountain range’s snow-covered Corn Du peak.
He was taking part in a gruelling 40-mile march in freezing conditions as part of a selection process for the SAS when he collapsed.