Baildon soldier Sapper Jordan Rossi was killed by an “undetectable” explosive device while on duty in Afghanistan, a Bradford inquest heard yesterday.
Sapper Rossi, 22, of Glenwood Avenue, had been part of a Royal Engineers search team, looking for an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), near Sangin, Helmand Province, on May 23 last year.
The Sapper, of 38 Engineer Regiment, followed three of his comrades through a gap in a wall where rubble lay on the ground but as he passed through an explosion was triggered.
A statement by Sapper Rossi’s commanding officer Captain Daniel Shepherd was read to the inquest, at Bradford Coroner’s Court.
Capt Shepherd, 28, died two months after Sapper Rossi was killed, while he was diffusing an IED in Afghanistan.
In the statement the Captain said the device would have been very hard to locate with the soldiers’ Vellon detectors due to its low metal content.
He described how he reassured Sapper Rossi, who was conscious immediately after the explosion.
“I told Sapper Rossi what was happening and he said, ‘OK boss,’”, said Capt Shepherd.
“I told him to stay strong and keep fighting.”
Sapper Rossi was cared for by medically-trained soldiers on the ground, but died while being transferred to the hospital at the forces’ main base at Camp Bastion.
Coroner Roger Whittaker said: “It is a huge tragedy for them (Sapper Rossi’s family) but a matter, I think, of great pride nevertheless, which is possibly all the crumb of comfort I can offer in these circumstances.”
He praised the quick actions of Sapper Rossi’s colleagues following the blast, describing them as “exemplary”.
He said: “I cannot praise too highly the courage of Sapper Rossi and his colleagues. The reason being they are volunteers in a deployment to an extremely dangerous theatre far from home and family, for our continuing benefit and security – so I compliment them on that – it is incalculable.”
Recording a verdict that Sapper Rossi was unlawfully killed on active service in Afghanistan, Mr Whittaker said: “The particular device, deployed here deliberately to try and kill or injure members of our armed services, was of such a nature that it was, in my terms, undetectable.
“Some have such little metal content they do not activate these Vallon detectors.
“These men are so skilled with their devices, if it had have been detectable, it would have been detected.”
In a statement read to the hearing the young soldier’s mum Theresa Rossi said he “thrived” in the army.
She said: “It was completely out of the blue and devastated our entire family and his friends.
“We will miss his outgoing character so much, he had a great sense of humour and was renowned for keeping everyone’s spirits up.”
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