Marine killed in training exercise near Perris Valley airport

An investigation was under way today into the death of a U.S. Marine from Camp Pendleton who was killed in a skydiving accident near Perris Valley Airport in Riverside County, authorities said.

Firefighters were dispatched about 3 p.m. Tuesday on a report of aninjured skydiver at or near 2000 Goetz Road, north of where Perris ValleySkydiving is located at the airport, according to Jody Hagemann of theRiverside County Fire Department.

The man was declared dead at the scene, she said.

The victim was doing training exercises at Perris Valley Skydiving witha group of Marines from Camp Pendleton at the time of his death, RiversideCounty sheriff’s Sgt. Lisa McConnell told the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

The circumstances of the accident were under investigation and the man’sidentity was being withheld pending notification of his family, Marine Corpsspokesman Capt. Alex H. Lim told the newspaper.

The skydiver landed in a 10-acre storage yard on the grounds ofconstruction equipment auction company Western Construction Auctions, company CEO Eric Kazakoff, told The Press-Enterprise.

“The parachute didn’t open … There was not a lot anybody could do,”he told the newspaper.