TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Relatives and legislators were asking questions Friday (July 22) about the death of a 24-year-old conscript pinned under the gun barrel of a tank during maintenance work.

Chuan Jo-yao (全若堯) had started his four-month military service in April, and was just 13 days away from his return to civilian life in early August, CNA reported. Lawmakers questioned why a conscript in the armed forces for such a short time had been tasked with repair work on a tank.

Chuan and a sergeant named Chiang (蔣), both members of the 564th Armored Brigade, had been injured at a training base in Pingtung in an incident Thursday (July 21) initially described by the military as an irregularity with the stabilizing system on a CM-11 tank’s gun turret.

After being put on life support at Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital, Chuan was transferred to his family home in Nantou County, where he passed away during the evening.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that conscripts were not allowed to enter tanks unless they had obtained the necessary certificate. He demanded the Ministry of National Defense investigation into the accident find out who had ordered Chuan into the tank in the first place, and why the gun barrel had moved.

The military acknowledged Friday that the conscript was not part of a tank unit, and that conscripts in general would not handle advanced equipment during their four-month stint. The Pingtung District Prosecutors Office had formed a special taskforce to investigate the incident, CNA reported.