16 Army men die in Sikkim accident

New Delhi, December 23

Sixteen soldiers of the Indian Army lost their lives in a road accident in the northern part of Sikkim today. An Army truck carrying these soldiers skidded off the road in a mountainous area at an altitude of more than 10,000 ft.

The ill-fated vehicle was part of a three-vehicle convoy that had moved from Chatten in the morning towards Thangu. En route at Zema, the vehicle skidded down a steep slope while negotiating a sharp turn, Army officials said.

Thangu is an acclimatisation base for soldiers, who after getting used to the altitude, move to next stage of deployment in the northern part of Sikkim.

A rescue mission was immediately launched, and four injured soldiers have been air-evacuated. Unfortunately, three Junior Commissioned Officers and 13 soldiers succumbed to the injuries sustained in the accident, the officials said.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, among others, have condoled the deaths of the soldiers.

“Anguished to learn about the loss of lives of brave soldiers of Indian Army in a road accident in Sikkim,” said Murmu. PM Modi’s office tweeted: “Pained by the loss of lives of our brave Army personnel due to a road mishap in Sikkim.”

Those Killed

Nb Sub Chandan K Mishra Khagaria (Bihar)

Nb Sub Omkar Singh Pathankot (Punjab)

L/Hav Gopinath Makur Bankura (WB)

Sepoy Sukha Ram Jodhpur (R’sthan)

Hav Charan Singh Lucknow (UP)

Nk Ravinder Singh Thapa Pantnaga (UP)

Nk Vaisakh S Palakkad (Kerala)

Nk Pramod Singh Ara (Bihar)

L/Nk Bhupendra Singh Eta (UP)

Nk Shyam Singh Yadav Unnao (UP)

Nk Lokesh Kumar Muzaffarnagar (UP)

GDR Vikas Kumar Fatehabad (Haryana)

Sub Guman Singh Jaisalmer (R’sthan)

L/Hav Arvind Kumar Bhiwani (Haryana)

L/Nk Somvir Singh Hisar (Haryana)

L/Nk Manoj Kumar Jhunjhunu (R’sthan)