Kurkse tragedy
Encyclopedia
The Kurkse tragedy occurred on 11 September 1997, when 14 Estonia
n soldiers of the Baltic Battalion drowned in the Kurkse Strait during a dangerous training maneuver. As the last part of an exercise which had lasted several days, a team of 22 soldiers from the reconnaissance unit of the Baltic Peacekeeping Battalion attempted to wade about 3 km (2 mi) from the Pakri Islands
through the shallow Kurkse Strait to Estonian mainland. Although in the beginning of the exercise the conditions seemed satisfactory, later during the crossing, when the unit came out of the lee of the island, high winds and waves appeared and several men started to suffer from hypothermia
in the cool (14°C) water. Also, it was expected that most of the strait could be waded through and it would be needed to swim for only several hundred meters, but instead the men had to start swimming relatively early and couldn't ever touch seabed before they were rescued. The 8 surviving soldiers were rescued by the captain of the nearby Kurkse harbour.
The commander of the unit, Jaanus Karm, was later found guilty of negligence for leading his troops into such dangerous circumstances and sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, but was pardoned by the president Lennart Meri
.
The Kurkse tragedy is the deadliest accident in the Estonian Defence Forces since the country regained independence in 1991.
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n soldiers of the Baltic Battalion drowned in the Kurkse Strait during a dangerous training maneuver. As the last part of an exercise which had lasted several days, a team of 22 soldiers from the reconnaissance unit of the Baltic Peacekeeping Battalion attempted to wade about 3 km (2 mi) from the Pakri Islands
Pakri Islands
Pakri Islands are two Estonian islands in the Finnish Gulf: Suur-Pakri and Väike-Pakri . Administratively they belong to the town of Paldiski...
through the shallow Kurkse Strait to Estonian mainland. Although in the beginning of the exercise the conditions seemed satisfactory, later during the crossing, when the unit came out of the lee of the island, high winds and waves appeared and several men started to suffer from hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
in the cool (14°C) water. Also, it was expected that most of the strait could be waded through and it would be needed to swim for only several hundred meters, but instead the men had to start swimming relatively early and couldn't ever touch seabed before they were rescued. The 8 surviving soldiers were rescued by the captain of the nearby Kurkse harbour.
The commander of the unit, Jaanus Karm, was later found guilty of negligence for leading his troops into such dangerous circumstances and sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, but was pardoned by the president Lennart Meri
Lennart Meri
Lennart Georg Meri was a writer, film director and statesman who served as the second President of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Meri was a leader of the Estonian independence movement.-Early life:...
.
The Kurkse tragedy is the deadliest accident in the Estonian Defence Forces since the country regained independence in 1991.