By KUNA
New Delhi : As many as five naval personnel have been killed and three injured in a gas leak on Indian Navy’s amphibious warship, INS Jalashwa, in the Bay of Bengal off the country’s eastern coast Friday night.
The naval personnel were killed due to inadvertently inhaling hydrogen sulphide gas, leaking from one of the compartments of the vessel last night, an Indian Navy spokesperson told reporters here Saturday.
“They were carrying out maintenance work,” he said.
All the three injured are being airlifted from the vessel to Port Blair (India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands) for further medical treatment.
An Indian Air Force transport aircraft will bring back the deceased from Port Blair to Vishakhapatnam, in the Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
The INS Jalashwa was purchased by the Indian Navy from the US for USD 49 million last year. It was bought along with six helicopters which cost an additional USD 39 million. It is the biggest ever defence purchase from the US to date.
The vessel was taking part in Navy’s annual “Tropex naval exercise” in the Bay of Bengal. INS Jalashwa, the only one of its kind in Indian Navy, can transport around 1,000 soldiers over long distances.