A Tank Catches Fire During Live Fire Training in South Korea
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 6 - A K1E1 tank of the South Korean Army caught fire on the 6th during live-fire training near the border with North Korea, with no reports of casualties so far.
The Yonhap News Agency reported, citing some officials, that the incident occurred in the morning at a shooting range in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, located 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border. The tank involved belongs to the 5th Armored Brigade of the 5th Corps and the fire started in the power compartment.
Some South Korean media reported that the tank caught fire while en route to a gathering point after completing its firing exercise. Other tanks noticed the fire and alerted the crew, who immediately ordered the tank to stop and evacuated safely.
The South Korean military and fire department are investigating the cause of the fire.
The K1E1 is an upgraded version of South Korea's early main battle tank, the K1, which has been digitized and networked, equipped with a C4I network-centric warfare system and an identification friend or foe system, enhancing battlefield situational awareness and enabling cooperation with the more advanced K2 tanks of the South Korean military within the same tactical network. According to Yonhap News Agency, each K1E1 tank costs approximately 3 billion won (about 2.1 million USD). (Hu Ruoyu)
A K1E1 tank from the 5th Armored Brigade of the South Korean Army caught fire during live-fire training near Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, on August 6. No casualties were reported, and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation by military and fire departments.
- A K1E1 tank caught fire during live-fire training near the North Korean border.
- The incident occurred at a shooting range in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province.
- No casualties have been reported.
- The tank is part of the 5th Armored Brigade of the South Korean Army.
- The cause of the fire is under investigation by military and fire departments.