Two sailors die as warship tips over

Two Indian Navy sailors were killed when INS Betwa, a frontline guided-missile frigate, tipped over during undocking at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on Monday. Fourteen personnel were rescued with minor injuries and they are being treated at INHS Asvini, the naval command hospital at Colaba here.

Officials of the Navy headquarters in New Delhi and the Mumbai-headquartered Western Naval Command (WNC) confirmed the incident and said salvage operations were under way. The incident took place at around 1.50 pm when the dock block mechanism supporting the warship apparently failed.

“The ship slipped from her dock blocks and tilted. Immediate action was taken to get all personnel to safety. Two sailors, however, succumbed to injuries after the incident,” a WNC official said. Technical evaluation for making the ship upright is in progress and an enquiry into the incident has been ordered. The 3,850-tonne Brahmaputra-class warship, which has an overall length of 126 metres, has suffered extensive damage. » Related picture, Page 10