Lt Colonel, Army jawan killed in Ladakh accident

Leh, July 30 (IANS) A Lt Colonel and an Army jawan were killed and 3 Army officers injured on Wednesday when a rolling stone hit their vehicle in Leh district of Ladakh UT.

“The Army vehicle was hit by the boulder when an Army convoy was moving from Durbuk to Chongtash at around 11:30 a.m. today. In this accident, one Lt Colonel and a jawan were killed while two major rank officers and a captain were injured," an official said.

According to the official, the injured have been shifted to Army hospital in Leh for treatment.

“The deceased have been identified as Lt Colonel Bhanu Pratap Singh and Lance Dafadar, Daljeet Singh. The injured have been identified as Major Mayank Shubham, Major Amit Dixit and Captain Gaurav," officials said.

Otherwise considered to be a safe driving area, the mountainous terrain of Ladakh because of its altitude and rugged geography sometimes becomes a driver’s challenge.

The unforeseen accidents like a rolling stone hitting a passing vehicle can at worst be called an unfortunate tragedy.

Due to scant precipitation, Ladakh region is not otherwise known for rolling stones, landslides or mudslides along its roads due to less rainfall although flash floods have occurred in some areas due to cloudbursts.

The road stretch from Baltal to Drass is actually considered to be the riskiest stretch of Srinagar-Leh highway passing through the Zojila Pass.

This highly remains closed for more than four months due to heavy snowfall on Zojila Pass and Matayan on the Drass side of the highway.

To overcome this difficulty, a tunnel is presently under construction across the Zojila Pass. This tunnel will bypass the weather prone stretch passing across the Zojila Pass.

Once the tunnel becomes operational, Srinagar-Leh highway will become an all weather highway.

--IANS

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