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2 sailors dead, 14 injured after warship INS Betwa slips on Mumbai docks
An Indian Navy warship tipped over at the Naval dockyard in Mumbai on Monday, defence officials said.
Two sailors were killed and 14 others were being treated for minor injuries after an Indian Navy warship tipped over at the Naval dockyard in Mumbai on Monday, defence officials said.
INS Betwa, a Brahmaputra-class guided missile warship (F-39), slipped on the dock blocks during a refit at about 1.50 pm. Officials said the extent of damage was being assessed by the navy officials.
Captain DK Sharma, the Indian Navy spokesperson, said search operation were underway for the missing sailors.
An inquiry will be launched to ascertain what caused the vessel to slip, while the extent of damage is being assessed.
Sharma said the 3850-tonne ship, measuring 126 metres in length, tipped over while it was being undocked, and the mast of the ship hit the dockyard ground.
In the past, INS Betwa had run aground in January 2014 and collided with an unidentified object which led to a crack in its sonar system, and had also seen saltwater ingress into sensitive equipment.
Named after the river Betwa, the frigate has been in service for over a decade. It was indigenously designed and built with the capability to operate at extended ranges, with speeds up to 30 knots. It’s weapons systems include state-of-the-art sensor suites, long range surface-to-surface missiles and anti-missile defence systems.
