Two British servicemen killed

(PA)

Two British servicemen have died within hours of each other after separate incidents in Afghanistan. Royal Marine Lance Corporal Rob Richards, 24, died at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham on Wednesday night from injuries suffered last Friday near Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province.

And Lance Corporal Kieron Hill, 20, of 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment, was killed in an explosion near Garmsir in Helmand yesterday morning. Lance Corporal Richards, of the Armoured Support Group Royal Marines, was seriously injured when his Viking armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.

He was flown to Britain for treatment but died five days later. Lance Corporal Richards lived in Betws-y-Coed, North Wales. Comrades described him as the "alpha male amongst the pack".