A volunteer soldier, serving in the 10th Lieutenant General Racedo Mountain Infantry Regiment, in the town of Covunco, Neuquén province, appeared dead on Sunday afternoon and the causes of death are being investigated by the Zapala prosecutor’s office, it was reported this Monday.
According to a statement from Argentinian army“the young man was found lifeless in the Unit’s powder magazine sector at the time of his guard change.”
The Criminal Secretary of the Federal Court of First Instance of Zapala, Matías Álvarez, told Télam that “the fact continues in the investigation stage and more expert reports will be carried out in the next few hours.”
Alvarez added that “The cause of Huanque’s death is not yet known”from whom the results of the autopsy were awaiting, performed at the Zapala Judicial Morgue, where the body was transferred this Monday.
The head of the Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Ignacio García Solórzano, informed a local media outlet that the discovery occurred on Sunday, when the guard post was replaced.
The head of the Regiment stated that statements were taken from the staff until six in the morning: “Everything has to be determined by a judge, for this we are in contact with the federal prosecutor’s office“he added
“For now we are waiting for the body to be released so that we can transfer it and support the parents with the wake,” García Solórzano concluded.
For his part, Colonel Pablo Conforte, from the aforementioned regiment, informed local media that “the regiment authorities have already intervened with the federal Justice, but everything would indicate that it was suicide with the weapon with which he was exercising the function of sentinel”.
Conforte said that the young man “You had no problems during your stay” in the unit and ensured that the regiment “is collaborating in everything that is within our reach”in turn providing all kinds of “containment to the soldier’s companions.”
The Zapala Federal Prosecutor’s Office is involved in the event, while “administrative actions to determine the circumstances of the event” are being carried out in the regiment, according to a statement from the Argentine Army.
“The Argentine Army deeply regrets the death of the soldier, accompanies his family and friends in their sorrow, and prays for his eternal rest”concluded the official statement.
