Eleven soldiers from a military base in Texas have been hospitalized after drinking a poisonous substance they believed was alcohol, army officials said.
Soldiers drank the unknown substance after a field exercise at the McGregor Range complex in Fort Bliss ended Thursday, Fort Bliss officials said in a statement.
Officials said the soldiers thought they were drinking alcohol, which is banned at the base.
They then began to experience symptoms between 7:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. the same day.
All were taken to William Beaumont Army Medical Center and two soldiers were admitted to the intensive care unit because they were seriously ill, officials said.
The toxicology results showed that the soldiers, who were assigned to the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, the 32nd Army Air Defense and Missile Command, were suffering from ethylene glycol poisoning.
Symptoms of ethylene glycol poisoning include seizures, coma, and cerebral edema in some cases, according to the Agency for the Registration of Toxic Substances and Diseases.
The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command is investigating the incident.