4 Boy Scout leaders die at Jamboree

BOWLING GREEN, Va. -- Four adult Boy Scout leaders from Alaska were killed yesterday in an electrical accident during the opening day of the organization's 2005 Jamboree.

The accident happened between 4:30 and 5 p.m. while the leaders were setting up camp, officials said.

One other leader from Alaska and a contract worker were hospitalized in stable condition after the electrical accident. All the youths with the Alaska group were unhurt, said Bill Haines, chief executive officer of the Western Alaska Council.

Citing a source with knowledge of Jamboree operations, the Washington Post reported that a pole intended as a support for a tent came into contact with an overhead power line. The tent appeared to be intended for large gatherings rather than for housing, the Post said.

Those killed were longtime leaders with Anchorage's Troop 711, which along with another troop had brought 80 Scouts between the ages of 13 and 15 to the event, Haines said. Three other Scout leaders had come with the group.

The Scouts were relocated, and chaplains and grief counselors were made available. ''The Jamboree will go on," said spokeswoman Renee Fairrer.

A Boy Scout volunteer from North Carolina was taken to a hospital a day earlier, where he died of an apparent heart attack, Fairrer said.

In 1997, a 16-year-old Boy Scout from Pennsylvania was killed at the Jamboree when an Army Humvee he was not supposed to be driving flipped over. Three passengers were hurt.

Tens of thousands of Boy Scouts, leaders, and volunteers from around the world are attending the 2005 National Scout Jamboree. The event opened yesterday at the Army's Fort A.P. Hill, a 76,000-acre Army training base about an hour south of the nation's capital.

The Jamboree runs through Aug. 3, with President Bush scheduled to speak tomorrow evening. Scouts ages 12 to 18 are to spend 10 days camping and taking part in activities that include archery, fishing, and a GPS-based scavenger hunt.

The Boy Scouts of America have held the event since 1937, with the next gathering set for 2010, the Scouts' 100th anniversary. It may not be held at Fort A.P. Hill, which has hosted the event since 1981. A federal judge recently ruled that the Pentagon can no longer financially support the event. If the ruling stands, the Boy Scouts would have to find another location for their next gathering.

A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois contends that the Defense Department's sponsorship violates the First Amendment because the Scouts require members to swear an oath of duty to God.