The Ministry of Defence has launched an investigation after a Royal Marine trainee collapsed and died during an exercise on Dartmoor.
The man, who has not been named at the request of his family, was completing a 48km run when he collapsed.
A MoD spokesman said:
“This incident is being investigated and the thoughts and sympathies of the Naval service are with the family and friends of this man.”
The run is the last major endurance test of the 32-week elite Commando training course, and junior Royal Marines are expected to complete it in under eight hours carrying 15kg of equipment.
The Marin’s death comes as an inquest has begun into the death of three soldiers undergoing SAS selection tests in Wales in 2013. The soldiers were close to the finishing line of the exercise when they succumbed to heat exhaustion on one of the hottest days of the year.
The deaths raise questions about the need to push entrants to their physical limits against the health and “right to life” of those taking part.
