Three Canadian soldiers were injured when a bomb detonated under their vehicle in southern Afghanistan, in what a journalist who was riding with them described as a "complete disaster scene." Tim Albone, a reporter with Global Radio News, said they were travelling in a lightly armoured vehicle through a dry riverbed about 90 kilometres west of Kandahar midday Monday when the bomb exploded under a front tire.Albone said he turned to look for the soldier who had been sitting in a 250-kilogram gun turret, but saw that both the man and the turret had been ripped out of the vehicle by the force of the blast. He said the bomb destroyed the vehicle's engine, hurled the hood about 150 metres, threw a front tire 500 metres and sent plumes of black smoke into the air. Victims treated each others' injuries while awaiting rescue.
He said military officials later told him that the quartet only survived because of the armour on the vehicle, which was one of the Mercedes-Benz Gelaendewagens (known as "G Wagons") recently purchased by the Canadian military. Albone said it took about 40 minutes for medical crews to reach them, in part because they feared more bombs could be hidden in the area. He said he lifted up the turret that was trapping the gunner on the ground.
Then they pulled the two other soldiers out of the wreckage, splinting up one man's leg with a basic first aid kit they found in the G wagon. Two soldiers suffered broken bones. Once help arrived, they were taken from the site near the town of Maywand to a U.S. military field hospital in Kandahar. The Canadian Department of National Defence said Monday that they were in stable condition. Colonel Steve Bowes told CBC News that one soldier had a broken leg and another had a broken ankle and foot. He said the third soldier escaped with minor injuries.
All of the soldiers are with the 3rd battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, which is based in Edmonton.
Albone said coalition troops had arrested two people who were seen tearing away from the scene of the bombing on a motorcycle. He said they had been handed over to Afghan troops. Neither Canadian nor Afghan officials have confirmed the arrests.