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Norway motorist killed in collision with tank

One person died when a tank that was taking part in Nato’s Cold Response exercise collided with a passenger vehicle in Snåsa on Monday.

Norway motorist killed in collision with tank
The tank was part of the Nato Cold Response exercise. Photo: Karl Jørgen Marthinsen / NTB scanpix
The accident occurred at around 9.40am on County Road 763, 22 kilometres south of Snåsa. The tank was driving toward the southwest when it collided with a passenger car heading in the opposite direction. 
 
“There was only one person in the passenger car, while there were two people form the Norwegian Armed Forces in the tank. We don’t know the circumstances surrounding the accident yet,” Rune Reinsborg from the Trøndelag Police told NTB. 
 
Police on Monday afternoon were working to inform relatives of the deceased, who is said to be a male resident from outside of Nord-Trøndelag, where the accident occurred. 
 
The two people in the armoured tank were not injured, according to Aleksander Jankov, a Cold Response spokesman. 
 
 
“The military is exercising to protect national security. Accidents are always tragic and we think it is particularly sad that a person has died in connection to the military exercise,” he said. 
 
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration, police technicians and representatives from Accident Investigation Board Norway were all active at the accident site on Monday. 
 
The tank belongs to the Telemark Battalion of Brigade North and weighs between 50 and 60 tonnes, Cold Response spokesman Vegard Finberg told Adresseavisen. 
 
The Norwegian Armed Forces kicked off the large-scale Cold Response exercise on February 19th in Trøndelag. Around 15,000 participants from 14 countries are taking part in the exercise, which continues through March 22nd.
 
“The drills will continue but the activities that were planned near the accident site will be cancelled. The Armed Forces personnel who were involved in the accident will get the help and support they want and need,” Jankov said. 
 

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