5 killed in Spanish military base blast

Madrid, February 25: Five military personnel were killed and three were wounded in an accidental explosion at a base outside the Spanish capital, the defence ministry said.

The blast occurred Thursday at the engineers school in the Madrid suburb of Hoyo de Manzanares during a bomb-defusing exercise.

Officials said three of the dead were army soldiers and two were marines.

Defence Minister Carme Chacon rushed to the base after the accident, officials said.

–IANS–