At least 23 paratroopers were injured late Wednesday during a nighttime training exercise at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in Mississippi, officials said.

United States Army paratroopers from the Fourth Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, which is stationed in Alaska, had been taking part in “Exercise Arctic Anvil” when 87 of them “landed off course into a wooded area,” Col. Bobby M. Ginn Jr., the Camp Shelby post commander, said at a news conference on Thursday.

Twenty-three were taken to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg with non-life-threatening injuries, he said. Four paratroopers were still in the hospital as of Thursday afternoon.

Firefighters helped to assist some of the paratroopers out of the trees, according to Ashley Bain-Sangster, a public affairs officer with the Fourth Brigade Combat Team.

Approximately 650 paratroopers were supposed to take part in 10 days of exercises, according to Colonel Ginn.

“Airborne operations all bear an inherent risk,” the 25th Division said in a statement. “We strive to mitigate this risk as much as possible.”

“We are grateful for overwhelming support that we have received from units here on Camp Shelby as well as local first responders,” the statement added.

At the news conference on Thursday, Col. Christopher Landers, the commander of the 25th Division, said that injuries on jumps were common.

“To have this number is relatively rare,” Colonel Landers said. “I’ve only seen it a handful of times in my career.”

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