Fifteen Orange County sheriff’s SWAT deputies were released from the hospital as of Thursday morning, March 14, following treatment of minor injuries sustained in an unexpected explosion during a training exercise in Irvine Wednesday, authorities said.
One of the 16 injured, who needed surgery for a leg injury, remained hospitalized, Sgt. Frank Gonzalez said.
The deputies were conducting a joint training with the sheriff’s Hazardous Devices Section, also known as the bomb squad, at the FBI Special Agent Jerry Crowe Regional Tactical Training Facility in Irvine when something exploded indoors, sheriff’s officials said Wednesday.
Orange County firefighters were called to the facility just before 12:55 p.m., Capt. Sean Doran said.
What the type of device was that exploded and what caused the object to explode were not known, Gonzalez said Thursday. OCSD and the FBI were investigating.
Of the injured, 15 were taken to hospitals by ambulance and one self-transported, officials said. Most complained of dizziness and ringing in their ears, while one suffered a superficial injury to his leg and another to his back.
The deputies were engaged in an annual training exercise when the explosion occurred in one of the rooms used for the training, Gonzalez said.
The facility hosts firearms training and qualification tests for the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.
No FBI personnel were injured in the blast, Eimiller said.
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