Taiwan’s military faced another embarrassing incident during the ongoing Han Kuang exercises after a military truck reportedly lost more than 20 large artillery shells while navigating a bend in Miaoli County on Sunday.
The incident happened at around 2.30pm along a section of Provincial Highway 13 in Jianshan Township, where the truck was transporting multiple 8-inch howitzer shells.
According to reports, the vehicle was travelling through a downhill section with a sharp bend when the shells apparently rolled out of the truck and ended up in a roadside drainage ditch. The driver was suspected of travelling too quickly, possibly due to unfamiliarity with the road.
Fortunately, the shells had not been fitted with fuzes and did not explode, avoiding what could have been a far more serious incident.
After discovering that the ammunition had fallen from the truck, military personnel immediately secured the area and worked with officers from the local police station to prevent members of the public from approaching the site.
Due to the considerable weight of the shells, the military brought in a civilian forklift to help lift and recover the ammunition. The shells were subsequently returned to the military truck.
The recovery and clearance operation reportedly took more than two hours before all the fallen shells were removed from the roadside.
The incident comes as Taiwan conducts its annual Han Kuang military exercises, which are designed to test the armed forces’ readiness and ability to respond to potential security threats.
It also follows another reported mishap during this year’s drills, when the tail section of a military drone reportedly detached during a naval exercise observed by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.
