2 deaths at South Carolina base ruled suicide - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

2 deaths at South Carolina base ruled suicide

Two enlisted sailors at Naval Weapons Station Charleston, S.C., died last week in apparent suicides, a Navy official said.

The two sailors who were assigned to Naval Nuclear Power Training Command and the deaths do not appear to be connected, said Scott Bassett, a Navy spokesman in Charleston.

Both occurred in the barracks, one on July 14 and the other on July 16, Bassett said.

“For this small town base, this is very hard,” Bassett said.

Naval Criminal Investigative Services is investigating the deaths, but no foul play is suspected, Bassett said.

Bassett said the names of the two sailors would not be released.

The service had 48 suicides in calendar year 2009, according to information provided by the Navy. The number is the highest since 2001, the earliest year for which statistics are available; the previous high was 44 deaths in 2002.

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This article, originally posted July 28, was updated with corrected suicide numbers July 30.