Army duo, porter die as landslide hits Sikkim camp

KALIMPONG/KOLKATA/DARJEELING: Two Army personnel and a porter died when their camp in Sikkim's Mangan was swept away late Sunday in a landslide triggered by heavy rain. Six others - four Army personnel and two family members - are missing.

The landslide hit the camp in Chaten, 3km from Lachen in Mangan's Chungthang sub-division , around 7pm. The bodies of Havaldar Lakhwinder Singh, Lance Naik Munish Thakur and porter Abhishek Lakhada were recovered from debris Monday, while four people were rescued with minor injuries.

The missing include Lt Col Pritpal Sandhu (GSO-I), his wife Sqn Ldr Arati B Sandhu (retd) and daughter Amaira Sandhu, Subedar Dharamveer, Sep Sainuddin P K and Sep Sunilal Muchahary. Officials said teams were working round the clock in challenging terrain and adverse weather conditions to find the missing.

Army mourns lives lost in Sikkim tragedy | page 12

The Indian Army expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the bravehearts who lost their lives in this unfortunate incident. Every effort is being made to provide necessary support to the bereaved families in this hour of grief," said an Army spokesperson.

One of the deceased, Lance Naik Munish, hailed from Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district and wasattached to Dogra Regiment. Lakhwinder's details were not yet available.