Hit and died: Armored fighter killed during tank exercise

August 31, 2022   

IDF soldier, Sergeant Eitan Fichman, 19, a soldier in the 7th Brigade, from Beersheba, was killed last night (Wednesday) during a routine training exercise in the north, after apparently receiving a blow to the head. Change of address? Here you will find out if your details are already updated in the voter register. Following the accident, which occurred during a wet armor exercise in the Golan Heights, the commander of the ground force ordered the halt of all ground training. An investigation has been opened to clarify the circumstances of the incident. The late Eitan Fichman was promoted to the rank of sergeant after his death. An IDF spokesman said that the soldier was killed after being hit during a company armor exercise in the firing range near 'Naphah'. While in the tank, for an unclear reason, the soldier was hit and severely wounded in the head. After resuscitation efforts, he was pronounced dead. Northern Command Commander, Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, held an initial investigation at the scene tonight. As part of the initial investigation, the IDF commander appointed Maj. Gen. Shaul Israeli, commander of Brigade 205, as the head of the team of experts who will investigate the circumstances that led to the unfortunate event in cooperation with the headquarters of the Chief Armor Officer in the ground force. The team's conclusions will be presented to the Chief of Staff. At the same time, the military police immediately began investigating the incident, and upon completion, their findings will be forwarded to the military prosecutor's office for review. The commander of the ground force, Major General Tamir Yadai, ordered a curfew on training and the training of armored combat vehicles. A message was delivered to the soldier's family, and the soldier's details and the date of the funeral will be published later. The IDF Spokesperson's Office stated: "The IDF shares in the family's grief and will continue to accompany it." According to a report by Nir Davori on Channel 12, an initial investigation indicates that the incident occurred after a dry exercise, as part of a wet exercise. According to the company commander, he called out to the soldier and received no response from him, so he looked at the floor of the tank, where he saw the soldier lying on the floor, with his head between the turret and the turret, in the area known as the "triangle of death." He identified signs of a tank hit on the helmet. Therefore, the assessment is that it was a head injury or contusion. One of the medics at the scene identified signs of a weak pulse in the soldier, but the battalion doctor who was called to the scene was forced to declare him dead on the spot. Now questions are being raised about how the soldier ended up in the condition he was in: It is unclear how he ended up on the ground with his head in the "triangle of death." An initial assessment suggests that the soldier may have suffered cardiac arrest, an injury from the anvil, fainting, or dehydration. The cause of death or the factor that led to his death is still unclear, and therefore a more in-depth examination is needed. Following the incident, the IDF is establishing a committee of experts. The committee will analyze the tank in which the incident occurred, and from a medical perspective, if an autopsy is possible after death, doctors will examine the soldier's body. The details indicate that this is not a routine accident, and even after senior commanders arrived on the scene to reconstruct the incident, including the commander of the command himself, large parts of the chain of events that led to the soldier's death are still unexplained. The black box in the tank was taken for examination in the hope that it will shed more light on things. They are currently waiting for a forensic examination of the soldier's helmet, as they will be able to verify whether he was hit in the head by the tank's anvil while moving. The tank was not on a mountainous route, but rather flat terrain, and traveled a very short distance. Also, no shots were fired from the tank.