Sixteen Indian Soldiers lost their lives as a result of a road accident in northeast India when the truck transporting them slipped down a steep mountain slope and crashed.
The truck carrying the soldiers was travelling through a dangerous bend in a mountainous region close to the Chinese border when the accident happened in the state of Sikkim.
The Indian Army’s eastern command confirmed the death of three officers and 13 soldiers in the accident.
“A rescue mission was immediately launched, and four injured soldiers have been air evacuated,” the commander said.
The high-altitude roads in Sikkim are among the most hazardous in all of India, particularly along the remote Himalayan border with Tibet.
Each year, numerous troops got killed in accidents involving army vehicles close to the extensive border with China and Pakistan.
Six paramilitaries were killed in an accident in August when an armoured vehicle carrying them tumbled down a mountainside in India’s illegally held Kashmir.
