Vending Machine Kills Young Marine

A 19-year-old Marine private was fatally injured when the soft-drink vending machine he was shaking toppled onto him, a Marine Corps Recruit Depot spokesman said Monday.

The Marine private, who was not identified pending notification of relatives, had put 50 cents into the machine about 8:50 p.m. Sunday and started rocking it after it failed to dispense a soda, Capt. John Coonradt said.

The victim was rushed to the Navy Hospital in Balboa Park, where he was pronounced dead at 10:34 p.m. of internal bleeding and a ruptured spleen. He had graduated in November from boot camp and was stationed at MCRD, Coonradt said.

Coonradt said the machine, which weighs 900 to 1,100 pounds when stocked, is in a recreation room at the depot. There is a note on the machine with a phone number to call for a refund in the event it malfunctions, Coonradt said.