Australian soldier killed, five others injured during training accident 

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - SYDNEY — An Australian soldier was killed and five others were injured in a vehicle rollover during a training accident in the Northern Territory on Monday afternoon.

Police said a vehicle had rolled over at the Mount Bundey training area, about 130 km southeast of Darwin..

Corporal Brendan Hannam, 28, was declared dead at the scene while five others were airlifted to hospital in Darwin.

Chief of the army, Lt Gen Susan Coyle, said the incident was a single-vehicle rollover of a troop-carrying vehicle that Hannam was traveling in.

Coyle said Hannam was a junior non-commissioned officer in the fifth/seventh battalion and is survived by his partner and two young children.

The area, used by the army for live fire training, is the same location where Jason Challis was killed in 2017 after he was shot in the head during an exercise. The department later pleaded guilty to failing to comply with workplace safety.

Monday's incident caused the second death of an Australian soldier this year after a paratrooper died after a mid-air collision during training in May.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said two injured soldiers had been taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital by helicopter and another three by plane on Monday evening, according to national broadcaster ABC.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family who are obviously devastated by this loss and of course, the support of our entire community is there for all of our service personnel who will be feeling this loss immensely," she said.

The ABC also reported that the NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole had sent resources to the Mount Bundey training area to help with the department's investigation into the incident.

"We can't comment on the cause of the injury to the defence personnel but we are assisting and were helping to investigate on behalf of the coroner," Dole said, according to the ABC.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his thoughts were with the family and friends of the victims, adding: "There are no safe or easy days for those who serve in our country's name."

During a 2019 inquest into the death of Challis, a 25-year-old soldier from Victoria, the coroner described the training exercise as "shambolic" and that his death had been preventable.

Challis, who had less than a year's experience with the defence force, was shot in the head and knee while he stood behind a plywood wall during an urban attack exercise.