USAF sergeant killed

An Air Force sergeant was killed in a heavy equipment accident in the Arabian Peninsula, becoming the first announced death in Operation Enduring Freedom.

Master Sgt. Evander Earl Andrews, who died yesterday, was assigned to the 366th Civil Engineer Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. He was originally from Maine, the base said, but no details were immediately available.

Lt. Col. Dave Lapan, a defense department spokesman at MacDill, said Andrews was at a "forward deployed location" supporting the campaign when the incident happened. He gave no details, but Tech. Sgt. Terry Nelson of the Mountain Home base said he was killed in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula. That part of the peninsula includes such countries as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

In addition to Andrews, a soldier was seriously injured Wednesday in Turkey after being trapped between two trucks, military officials said.

Officials did not disclose the soldier's name, the extent of his injuries or the exact location of the accident.

The soldier was in serious but stable condition Thursday, Col. David Rubenstein, head of the U.S. military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. He was airlifted to the military hospital in western Germany Wednesday night.