Fifteen Royal Navy sailors have died in tragic accidents since 2015, MoD reveals
THE number of sailors losing their lives in fatal accidents has dropped to a five-year low, a minister has revealed.
Since 2015, 15 sailors lost their lives in tragic mistakes.
However, figures revealed by armed forces minister James Heappey, have shown the number of deaths have dropped each year.
The information rounds up all deaths that occurred both on and off duty among regular personnel.
But it does not identify those deaths that were ‘work-related that may or may not have been the result of health and safety failures’.
In 2015, five sailors lost their lives, dropping to just one last year. The grim figure is lowest of all three services. The army recorded the highest number of deaths, with 85 soldiers losing their lives – increasing from 14 in 2015, to 20 last year.
While 19 personnel in the RAF died, increasing from three in 2015 to seven last year. Mr Heappey said : ‘The Ministry of Defence takes the health and wellbeing of our personnel extremely seriously.’