Biological samples used in Swiss military exercise deemed harmless

Samples seized in Egnach TG harmless according to the army Keystone-SDA

The samples seized by the army on Wednesday evening from an equestrian facility in Egnach in canton Thurgau have turned out to be harmless to health.

The seized samples were in their original packaging and had been sealed, army spokesman Mathias Volken told the Keystone-SDA news agency. The samples will be disposed off. They contain substances that can lead to diarrhoea or pneumonia when in close contact.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The biological samples were used as part of an exercise by NBC Defence Battalion 10, as the army announced on Wednesday evening. The army is not aware of any sick persons, Volken said.

The army was also investigating a vehicle and members of the battalion who are completing their refresher course this week. It was suspected that a mobile X-ray machine may have been used improperly. This could have led to radiation in the immediate vicinity inside the vehicle. According to Volken, there were no indications of a possible health hazard in this regard either.

The military justice authorities will continue their investigations. The military operation at the Egnach riding facility, on the other hand, was concluded in the early hours of the morning, according to a statement issued by the army on Thursday morning.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

How we work

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at [e-mail]