Eleven soldiers at a Texas military base have been hospitalized after drinking a poisonous substance believed to be alcohol, army officials said.
The soldiers drank the unknown substance after a 10-day field exercise in Fort Bliss’s McGregor Range Complex ended Thursday, Fort Bliss officials said in a statement.
Officials said the soldiers believed they were drinking alcohol, which is prohibited at the base.
They started having symptoms that same day between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m.
They were all taken to the William Beaumont Army Medical Center and two soldiers were admitted to intensive care because they are seriously ill, officials said.
Toxicological results showed that the soldiers – assigned to the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 32d Army Air and Missile Defense Command – suffered from ethylene glycol poisoning.
Symptoms of ethylene glycol poisoning include seizures, falling into a coma, and in some cases, brain edema, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
The United States Army Criminal Investigation Command is investigating the incident.