Dozens of U.S. paratroopers injured after parachute jump during mock battle goes horrifically wrong

Reports 13 paratroopers suffered head, spine and pelvic injuries during the training exercise

Dozens of U.S. Army paratroopers have been hurt during a massive airborne drop in Germany.

Sixteen of the 47 injured men are still in hospital, two of them in intensive care after the jump involving 1,000 soldiers went terribly wrong. They suffered head, spine and pelvic injuries.

The exercise pitted soldiers from the Vicenza, Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade in a mock-battle scenario with Slovakian soldiers and American troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team over the Hohenfels training area in Bavaria, southern Germany.



Exercise: U.S paratroopers jump out of a military airplane on Wednesday in a massive airborne drop exercise that left dozens injured

The American army said the drop was part of a scheme to switch the military focus back to fighting conventional forces as operations in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down.

It is unclear what precisley happened to cause the numerous injuries.

Officers at the clinic where the soldiers were treated said some of the injuries appeared related to parachutes drifting into nearby trees.



Most of the injuries occurred during the first wave of the morning drop, which involved about 650 soldiers.

Most of the injuries occurred during the first wave of the morning drop, which involved about 650 soldiers. The exercise took place in southern Germany

Officers at the clinic where the soldiers were treated said some of the injuries appeared related to parachutes drifting into nearby trees.



Polish troops also took part in the exercise but none of them were hurt.

The victims suffered a variety of broken bones and spinal injuries and every one of them required hospital treatment.

They were ferried to a local hospital in a fleet of ambulances.



A German civilian who witnessed the drop told Radio Bavaria: 'I’ve never seen so many parachutes in the sky. It was incredible sight, but I had no inkling that anything was wrong. I didn’t see any chutes tangled or men appearing to drop too fast.'

But the military said that they would not be staging an inquiry into what happened because the injury rate was “acceptable”.

Civilian spokeswoman for the Joint multinational Training Command, which is under U.S. Army command, Denver Makle, said as the numbers injured 'was within expected margins' an investigation was not necessary.



Speaking to The Local, a German website, she added: 'Airborne operations are always dangerous. There is very little margin for error.'

She explained an injury rate of up to 3 per cent is normal in this type of exercise.