Dutch paratroopers crash in Diest: a soldier suffers a broken pelvis | Diest

Schaffen airfield is still used by the Belgian armed forces, and therefore also by our allies. On Thursday afternoon, paratroopers from the Dutch army were conducting a jumping exercise when things went seriously wrong. Two soldiers who had taken off in the Netherlands saw their parachutes become entangled and crashed. Both survived the accident. One of them suffered a broken pelvis, while the other man dislocated his shoulder. The soldier with a pelvic fracture was transferred to the University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Leuven. A second ambulance took the other to the hospital in Diest.

_{(Continue reading below the video)}

Paratroopers from the Dutch army often train in Schaffen. They also did that last week. It is reported that one of the paratroopers ended up outside the drop zone. It is not clear whether there is a connection, but the Dutch armed forces have recently also been reported to use a new type of parachute to jump.

“There is always a small chance that a jump will go wrong,” says Adjutant Major Ponet of the Belgian Armed Forces. “And that has now happened. But everyone did the right thing. It is now up to our Dutch colleagues to investigate what exactly went wrong.”

Expert after accident with parachutist: “50,000 jumps per year in Flanders, but if it goes wrong, it really goes wrong”

“I thought he was dead, but to my surprise he said something”: former parachutist Martin sees colleague make a heavy fall from the ground in Ledegem (+)

First in Belgium. Former paratrooper Marc (57) jumps out of a plane with two prostheses: “Stand straight on my legs after landing” (+)

Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!

Log in or create an account and never miss anything from the stars.

Yes, I want free unlimited access