INS Sindhuratna mishap: Two missing naval officers dead

The Indian Navy on Thursday confirmed that the two officers who were "unaccounted for" after a fire on Russian-built submarine INS Sindhuratna have been found dead. Poll: Has this hurt the image of the defence?

The Indian Navy on Thursday confirmed that the two officers who were "unaccounted for" after a fire on Russian-built submarine INS Sindhuratna have been found dead.

The two officers who perished in the accident are Lt Cdr Kapish Muwal and Lt Manoranjan Kumar.

Hours after the the mishap, navy chief admiral DK Joshi had resigned on Wednesday. Joshi's resignation has been accepted by the government.

Read: Navy chief, defence ministry were at odds over accidents

A defence ministry spokesperson said he had stepped down taking moral responsibility for the recent accidents.

The mishap took place 50 km off the Mumbai coast early on Wednesday, while the boat was on a routine training exercise.

Seven sailors had suffered serious injuries and the two officers were declared "unaccounted for" after the accident.

A navy officer had said that the sailors had become unconscious after smoke started to fill the boat and were airlifted to a naval hospital in Mumbai.

Poll: Has this hurt the image of India's defence security?

Read: Twitter salute for Indian Navy chief for quitting with dignity

The submarine had undergone a refit at the naval dockyard in Mumbai barely two months ago, raising serious questions about the quality of upgrade it underwent.

The accident has taken the navy's mishap tally to 11 since INS Sindhurakshak, also a kilo-class boat, blew up and sank at a Mumbai harbour last August, killing all 18 men on board.

It was the third accident involving the navy's kilo-class (Type 877EKM) boats in less than six months.

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