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Sikkim accident: Bodies of 16 army men to be handed over to families today
Sixteen Indian army personnel were killed and four suffered injuries when the truck in which they were travelling fell off a mountain road in north Sikkim on Friday morning
The bodies of 16 army personnel, who were killed in an accident in north Sikkim, will be handed over to the family members on Saturday after a wreath laying at Bagdogra airport in north Bengal.
The 16 Indian army personnel were killed and four suffered injuries when the truck in which they were travelling fell off a mountain road in north Sikkim on Friday morning.
While four of them hailed from Uttar Pradesh and two each from Bihar, Rajasthan and Haryana, the rest were from Punjab, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Kerala.
“While four will be sent back to their native places by road, the rest will be transported by air to airports nearest to their home towns,” said an officer.
The truck was part of a three-vehicle convoy. Three of the deceased were junior commissioned officers while 13 were soldiers.
According to the Army, the accident happened around 9am at a place called Zema. The convoy had moved from Lachen in the morning and was going towards Thangu.
“En route, at Zema, the vehicle skidded down a steep slope while negotiating a sharp turn,” Lt Col Mahendra Rawat, the public relations officer of the defence ministry, said in a statement.
The deceased have been identified as Nb Sub Chandan Kumar Mishra, Nb Sub Omkar Singh, L/Hav Gopinath Makur, Sep Sukha Ram, Hav Charan Singh, Nk Ravinder Singh Thapa, Nk Vaisakh S, Nk Pramod Singh, L/ Nk Bhupendra Singh, Nk Shyam Singh Yadav, Nk Lokesh Kumar, GDR Vikas Kumar, Sub Guman Singh, L/ Hav Arvind Kumar, L/ Nk Somvir Singh and L/ NK Manoj Kumar.
The wreath laying will be done at Bagdogra airport near Siliguri in north Bengal between 12.30 noon and 2pm, said Lt Col Mahendra Rawat, the defence public relation officer.
The bodies of the soldiers were kept at Mangan, the district headquarter of Mangan district in Sikkim after the inquests were completed. After the wreath laying at Bagdogra airport, they will be dispatched to their home towns by air and road.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief at the death of the Army personnel.
Quoting Modi, the PMO tweeted, “Pained by the loss of lives of our brave army personnel due to a road mishap in Sikkim. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon.” The Army said the truck was part of a three-vehicle convoy that moved from Chatten in the morning towards Thangu.
