5 soldiers in T-72 tank swept away in flash floods

New Delhi: Five soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), were killed during an exercise early Saturday as their Russian-origin T-72 tank was swept away following flash floods in the Shyok river near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, officials said.

Two T-72 tanks were trying to cross Shyok around 1 am and one of them got stuck in high currents in the river, the officials said, adding the melting of snow resulted in the increase in the water levels.

The Army deployed rescue teams but the mission didn't succeed in view of the raging waters in the river. The deceased personnel are MRK Reddy, Subhan Khan, Bhupendra Negi, E Teibam and Sadarbonia Nagaraju. "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," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on X.

The soldiers belonged to the 52 Armoured Regiment deployed at Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) military base in the strategically located region close to the LAC with China.