Five army soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer, drowned when their T-72 tank sank while crossing a river close to the China frontier in eastern Ladakh, defence ministry officials said.

Sources said the water level in the Shyok river, in the Nyoma-Chushul area, suddenly rose because of the melting of snow and swept the tank away late on Friday night.

The tragedy occurred near Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO), the world’s highest airfield, located strategically at an altitude of 16,000ft. The Chinese army is said to be entrenched 18km inside India-claimed lines, with tanks and artillery, on the Depsang Plains near DBO since the May 2020 border intrusions.

DBO is also close to Aksai Chin. The airstrip provides logistical support to the Indian Army along the Line of Actual Control in what is a treacherous and hostile terrain.

A defence ministry official said the soldiers, who were from an armoured regiment, were crossing the river in the T-72 tank as part of a drill.

“The melting of the snow resulted in an increase in the water level of the Shyok river, which passes through the strategically key Depsang region,” he said.

The army’s Leh-based Fire and Fury Corps said: “On June 28 night, while de-inducting from a military training activity, an army tank got stuck in the Shyok river near Saser Brangsa due to sudden increase in the water level. Rescue teams rushed to the location.

“However, due to high current and water levels, the rescue mission didn’t succeed and the tank crew lost their lives. Indian Army regrets loss of five brave personnel while being operationally deployed in eastern Ladakh.”

Defence minister Rajnath Singh said he was “deeply saddened at the loss of lives of five of our brave Indian Army soldiers” and expressed
“condolences to the bereaved families”.

Congress MP and the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, paid “humble tribute to all the martyred soldiers” and expressed “my deepest condolences to the bereaved families”.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said: “In this hour of grief, the nation stands together in saluting the exemplary service of our valiant soldiers.”

The DBO airstrip was built after the 1962 war to check Chinese incursions. Flight operations were abandoned in 1965 as unsafe but resumed in 2008.

The airstrip is close to the newly built and strategic Darbuk-Shyok-DBO road that runs parallel to the LAC, meandering through elevations ranging between 14,000ft
and 16,000ft.

The road connects Leh with DBO at the base of the Karakoram Pass, which separates China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region from Ladakh. China’s army seeks to dominate the road as the Indian Army uses it to support its soldiers deployed on the LAC.