16 Army jawans killed in tragic accident at Indo-China Border
Sixteen Army jawans were killed and four others injured when their vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a gorge at a remote location in North Sikkim near the India-China border on Friday. A senior police officer said the injured were airlifted to an army hospital in northern Bengal. The accident occurred around 8:00 am at Zema 3, about 15 km from Lachen, about 130 km from the provincial capital Gangtok.
Chungthang Sub-division Police Officer (SDPO) Arun Thatal announced that a military vehicle with 20 crew members was on its way to the border crossing. The vehicle swerved off the road while cornering in the Zema 3 area and appeared to plummet several hundred meters. All 16 bodies were recovered from the crash site. Tatar, who was with a police team in Lachen, said the condition of the four army members was unknown, as he was seriously injured. The corpse will be taken to Gangtok State STNM Hospital for autopsy and then handed over to the military. The victim’s regiment has not yet been determined, he added. The military vehicle was carrying military personnel en route to its destination, police said.
