Rajasthan: At least two soldiers died and one injured in Bikaner's Mahajan field firing range while loading ammunition in a tank during a training exercise today (December 18), a defence spokesperson said. This is the second fatal incident in the firing range this week.
"Two Army soldiers have died in the incident and one is injured," Defence spokesperson Lt Col Amitabh Sharma said.
Local police officials rushed to the spot as soon as information about the blast came in.
"There were three soldiers who were practising with the tank. Ashutosh Mishra and Jitendra died in the explosion. The injured soldier has been taken to Chandigarh in a helicopter," Circle Officer Lunkaransar (Bikaner) Narendra Kumar Poonia said.
While Mishra was from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh, Jitendra came from Dausa in Rajasthan. Their bodies were taken to the Suratgarh military station. On Sunday (December 15), gunner Chandra Prakash Patel died when he was hooking a gun with the gun towing vehicle. The vehicle suddenly slipped backwards. Patel was fatally injured.
(With inputs from Yogesh Gajja)