Canadian paratrooper dies during exercise in Bulgaria

SOFIA: A Canadian paratrooper died and three others -- one Canadian and two US soldiers - were injured in a US Army Europe-led exercise in Bulgaria, officials and media said on Tuesday. One soldier was killed and three others injured jumping from a height of 400 metres late on Monday, according to Bulgarian army spokeswoman Violina Valeva.

The accident happened "during an airborne drop operation" at the so-called "Swift Response" exercise, the defence ministry said. Dnevnik newspaper’s web edition reported that one Canadian paratrooper died and another Canadian and two US soldiers were hospitalised with non-critical injuries.

The dead man’s parachute failed to open at Cheshnegirovo airfield near Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second-largest city, the local trafficnews.bg website said. Three other paratroopers who were close by suffered arm and leg fractures, the website added.