‘One dead’ after live firing incident at RAF Tain bombing range

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One person has reportedly died in a live firing incident at RAF Tain

Police have sealed off the RAF Tain bombing range after an incident during a “live-firing” training exercise that has reportedly killed one person and seriously injured another.

The deceased person is believed to have been shot dead, but nearby residents say they fear it was somebody attending a nearby hunting facility who could have been caught up in the training drill by mistake.

Another person is thought to have been injured in the training exercise and officers remain on the scene.

The next of kin have not yet been informed.

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The remote base was taken out of regular use around five years ago but drills occasionally happen

Police Scotland rushed to the training site shortly before 6pm on Tuesday.

Ayaz Irshad of the Royal Hotel Tain told Express.co.uk: “We initially heard a soldier died and another is seriously injured but there is a hunting site nearby and it could have been a mistake.

“The hunting season is not closed, we had some staying at our hotel recently.

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The site has since been closed off

We initially heard a soldier died and another is seriously injured but there is a hunting site nearby

Ayaz Irshad

“The base is very remote so hardly any other people go there.”

The Ministry of Defence could not confirm to Express.co.uk if the deceased was a soldier or a member of the public. Sky News are reporting that both those involved in the incident were soldiers.

A statement from the MoD said it was dealing with an incident at the base but have not confirmed the number of dead or wounded and has not gone into detail about the exact nature of the incident.

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Police Scotland are on the scene

An MoD statement said: “We are aware of an incident at the Tain base, near Inverness.

“We will release more information as and when it becomes available. It would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this point.”

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The RAF Tain base is used by forces from Lossiemouth and NATO

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Forces from Lossiemouth use the base in live firing drills

RAF Tain is a Ministry of Defence air weapons range on the Moray Firth near Tain in Scotland.

Royal Air Force aircrews from RAF Lossiemouth are trained in air weaponry on the range, along with NATO aircrew.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Police are currently in attendance at RAF Tain following reports of an incident.

“A call was received by police at 5.55pm and officers are at the scene.

Express.co.uk has contacted RAF Lossiemouth and the Ministry of Defence for comment.