As many as 16 Indian army jawans were killed and four suffered injuries after the truck in which they were travelling fell off a mountain road in North Sikkim on Friday morning, the Indian Army said in a statement.
Three of the deceased were junior commissioned officers while 13 were soldiers. The truck was part of a three-vehicle convoy.
According to the army, the accident took place at Zema in North Sikkim after the vehicle skidded down a slope and fell into a gorge. The convoy left Chatten in the morning and was going towards Thangu.
The accident left four soldiers injured who have been air evacuated, the army said.
“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.
“A rescue mission was immediately launched, and four injured soldiers have been air-evacuated. Unfortunately, three junior commissioned officers and 13 soldiers succumbed to the injuries sustained in the accident,” the statement added.
