Five Indian Army soldiers including one Junior Commissioned Officer and four jawans lost their lives when an Army Tank met with an accident in the Daulat Beg Oldie area in Ladakh on Saturday morning. The accident took place when a T-72 tank was swept away while crossing a river near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Nyoma-Chushul area.
Following the mishap, a rescue operation was immediately launched, and all five bodies were recovered, as confirmed by defence officials. “All five bodies have been recovered”, defence officials said on Saturday.
The incident occurred near Mandir Morh during an exercise around 1 AM on Saturday. The mishap took place due to a sudden increase in water levels of stream when the tank was crossing it during the exercise, said defence officials. The stream suddenly got flooded due to a cloudburst in higher areas.
“There were five soldiers in the tank at the time of the incident, including one Junior Commissioner Officer and four Jawans,” defence officials said. As per initial observations, the defence sources have ruled out sabotage behind the incident.
Union Defence Minister Rajanath Singh expressed his condolences on the incident.
“Deeply saddened at the loss of lives of five of our brave Indian Army soldiers in an unfortunate accident while getting the tank across a river in Ladakh. We will never forget exemplary service of our gallant soldiers to the nation. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. The nation stands firm with them during this hour of grief,” he posted