LEH: At least five Army men lost their lives after they were swept away in a mishap in river Shyok in Eastern Ladakh on Saturday.
Sources confirmed the deaths but details are awaited. The dead are from the Armoured Regiment of the Indian Army.
The Army men were crossing the river in a T-72 tank as part of a drill to practice movement in exigency. The tanks have the ability to float on water and keep moving forward.
The Shyok River is key water body that runs past the Depsang plains near Daulat Baig Oldie airfield.
The Shyok that descends from the Eastern flank of the Rimo Kangri glacier is rapidly flowing river and is tributary of the Indus.
There was a sudden increase in water levels due to snow melt. The terrain is tree-less and the snow melt at the mountain peaks rushes straight to the river running in the valley.