Two Naval officers, who were “unaccounted” after the INS Sindhuratna until Wednesday night, were declared dead by the Navy on Thursday afternoon. They were identified as Lt. Commander Kapish Muwal and Lt. Manoranjan Kumar.
“The two officers who were earlier declared missing have been located in the compartment and after examination by medical officers both the officers were declared dead,” the press release stated.
The submarine, which suffered a mishap on Wednesday morning after heavy smoke filled one of its compartments, reached the Mumbai harbour on Thursday morning.
The Russian-made Kilo class submarine was forced to surface after the accident. The submarine was on a routine exercise when smoke engulfed it leading to the accident, Navy sources said.
"The Indian Naval Submarine Sindhuratna returned to harbour on the morning of 27 February. Search for two missing crew members is continuing and every effort is underway to locate them," the Navy press release on Thursday read.
Earlier, Navy sources told The Hindu that the two officers might be inside one of the compartments of INS Sindhuratna and search operations are underway but as time passes, the chances of their survival becomes bleak.
'Condition of rescused sailors stable'
PTI adds
Meanwhile, the condition of the injured personnel, who had inhaled smoke and were airlifted to the naval hospital INS Ashwini, is reported to be stable.
INS Sindhuratna was at sea off Mumbai for routine training and workup (inspection) in the early hours of Wednesday when smoke was reported in the sailors’ accommodation, in compartment number three, by the submarine.
COMMents
SHARE