BEND, Ore. (AP) - The latest on an explosion that killed two people inside a World War II-era tank in Oregon (all times local):
1:30 p.m.
One of the two men who died during an explosion in a World War II-era tank owned the vehicle and was an enthusiastic collector of military equipment.
Friends of 51-year-old Steven Todd Preston say he bought the M18 Hellcat, which is technically a tank destroyer, several years ago and restored it.
Dennis Ripp, who is president of the Military Vehicle Collectors Club of Oregon, says he has known Preston for at least 15 years.
Ripp says Preston used the M18 for school fundraisers and other causes. He says Preston had recently done a commercial with the tank and also has appeared with it on the Discovery Channel.
Ripp says Preston had all of the legal paperwork needed for owning such a vehicle.
He says Preston left behind a wife and two children.
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This item has been corrected to show that one of the victim’s last names is Steven Todd Preston, not Peterson.
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12:20 p.m.
Oregon officials say an explosion that killed two people inside a World War II-era tank happened as a film crew captured video of the military vehicle as it fired.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office also identified the two people who died in the blast at a firing range in central Oregon as 51-year-old Steven Todd Preston and 22-year-old Austin Tyler Lee, both of Oregon City.
The sheriff’s office said the crew’s video was to be used for a future exhibit but didn’t elaborate on what that meant.
Authorities said the explosion Tuesday afternoon east of Bend occurred inside a 1944 M18 Hellcat, which is technically a tank destroyer. The M18s were used against German tanks during World War II.
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