Two Indian special forces soldiers (Para Commandos) who were swept away at the Yamuna River's Hathnikund Barrage during a training exercise have been confirmed dead after their bodies were recovered, news reports said on Thursday.
Five soldiers were swept away in Chandigarh on Tuesday night during a night-time training drill after their boat got caught in strong currents towards the downstream barrage. They were taking part in a joint watermanship training when the incident was reported.
The part of the water body where the mishap occurred had strong currents, and the soldiers struggled to stay afloat. However, three of them managed to swim to safety, while the other two went downstream.
A joint search and rescue operation was launched when there was no sign of the two personnel, and their bodies were found today, Hindustan Times reported. The team was formed with expert squads from the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) units from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, local police, and the civil administration. The Haryana Irrigation and Water Resources Department reduced water discharge at the barrage and WJC, while helicopters were reportedly deployed to conduct aerial surveys along the barrage and downstream parallel canals.
“The teams made swift efforts to retrieve the boat. However, the boat got caught in strong eddies around the sluice gates and capsized, resulting in the crew getting swept away by the strong currents. Two members of the crew are presently missing,” media reports quoted a Chandigarh-based defence public relations officer (PRO) as saying in a statement.
