Navy confirms two officers killed in accident on INS Sindhuratna

After searching for hours for two missing officers, the Indian Navy today confirmed said that they had died in the accident on board submarine INS Sindhuratna.

The Navy had earlier today issued a statement in which it said that it were still looking for the two officers who had gone missing after the accident on board the submarine.

However, reports have now confirmed that Lt Commander Kapish Muwal and Lieutenant Manoranjan Kumar were killed on board INS Sindhuratna.

The Navy has said that a high level inquiry, headed by an officer of Rear Admiral rank, has been constituted to probe the incident and has commenced its proceedings.

There were 94 sailors onboard the submarine when the accident took place.

The accident - the cause of which is not yet clear - took place in the early hours of Wednesday, about 50 nautical miles (80 km) in the Arabian Sea.

Officials suspect that the two officers may have been trapped in one of the sealed compartments of the vessel.

Details about what caused the accident were not available, but preliminary reports suggest that the toxic smoke may have been caused either due to a fire or a leakage in one of the hydrogen batteries on the vessel.

Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi tendered his resignation following the accident, which was accepted by the government.

with inputs from IANS