Four Jawans die when the truck they were travelling in fell deep down 600 feet in a gorge in Sikkim
Four Indian Army Jawans died in a serious accident with two jawans grievously injured when the truck they were traveling in fell 600 feet deep down in a gorge in Sikkim at Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, about ten kilometres away from Sikkim’s capital Gangtok.
This tragic incident occured on Wednesday killing four Jawans on the spot after being retrieved during the Army relief operations while two were lucky enough to survive, though grievously injured, ferried to a Kolkata hospital in an army chopper.
Out of the four two, jawans namely Himanshu, 20 years old and Brijesh, 21 years old belonged to Uttarakhand from Kumaon regiment.
Army sources cited bad weather conditions as the possible reason for the accident.“The accident occurred at around 8.30 am at 6th Mile, and one of the jawans died on the spot,” Siva Prasad, the superintendent of police, East District, Sikkim, said.
Three others died in the Army Hospital in Gangtok, where the condition of the two injured jawans is said to be critical.
In all there were six jawans of the Kumaon Regiment in the truck heading to Gangtok when the accident occurred, sources said.“It was raining when the accident happened and the truck fell 600 ft down the road,” said Kumar Chettri, a resident of 6th Mile. “The JN Road connecting Gangtok with Nathula near the Indo-China border is being widened and the vehicles ply on high speed. However, the mountainous road is quite risky and drivers with less experience are often involved in accidents,” Chettri added.
The former chief minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat has sent his deepest condolences to the bereaved families and expressed his heartfelt tributes to the departed souls who died at such a young age while in the service of the nation in Sikkim travelling in a truck due to an extremely inclement weather.
The Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat too condoled the death of the Army soldiers who died in this accident and prayed to Almighty to render them solace at his pious feet.
