Soldier shot friend in 'tragic accident' 15.02.12
3A soldier killed his best friend in a "tragic accident" in Afghanistan while checking his weapon, an inquest heard today. Ranger David Dalzell, 20, of 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment, died from a single shot to the chest while erecting a commemorative flag pole for a colleague who had been killed by an improvised explosive device. Ranger Dalzell, from Bangor in County Down, Northern Ireland, and his comrades had returned just 20 minutes earlier from a patrol in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand and were relaxing at Check Point Ranger when the incident happened at 11.20am on 4th February, 2011. Ranger Sean Barry had stripped and cleaned his SA-80 rifle in an attempt to stop the safety catch and magazine sticking but failed to notice the magazine was still attached as he carried out a functioning test and a shot was fired, killing his friend instantly. Speaking after the inquest, held at Trowbridge Coroner's Court in Wiltshire, Ranger Dalzell's father Gordon said it had been a "tragic accident". Wiltshire coroner David Ridley recorded a narrative verdict.