Five bomb technicians have been injured after a device unexpectedly detonated Thursday during an FBI live explosives response training for the Philadelphia field office, officials said.
Officers from multiple agencies, including individuals from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the Pennsylvania State Police, and FBI Philadelphia field office were injured during the explosion, the statement said.
All of the injured officers were taken to a local hospital for treatment, officials said, and an investigation into the incident has been launched by the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police.
The spokesperson did not provide further details regarding their conditions.
Incidents Like This Are ‘Rare’
The update said that one of the injured bomb technicians, a 14-year member of the sheriff’s department, was airlifted to Penn Presbyterian Hospital for treatment, while two other longtime sheriff’s department bomb technicians were taken to Paoli Hospital where they are both receiving treatment.The accident occurred shortly before 10 a.m., according to local reports.
A prison spokesperson told 6abc that staff from the Montgomery County Bomb Squad were installing an explosive device for a later class when it prematurely exploded.
Authorities told the local news station that operations at the prison were not impacted by the incident.
Jackie Hickey, a retired bomb technician for the Los Angeles Police Department and part of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, told 6abc that such training incidents are rare but investigators will likely discover what caused the device to unexpectedly detonate.
“I worry for the techs that were injured,” Hickey said. “There’s a lot of damage that occurs in an explosion, especially a vehicle. It has metal glass and a lot of debris that will come from that explosion.”
