Gas Leak on INS Vikramaditya Kills 2 on Board
Two people, including a sailor, were killed and two others injured after inhaling toxic fumes on board India's aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya at Karwar Naval base in Karnataka.
The condition of two others injured was stable and constantly being monitored in the Naval Hospital, Karwar, said officials.
"The incident of gas leakage took place yesterday evening while the ship was undergoing maintenance repairs in the sewage treatment plant compartment," said a statement issued by Indian navy.
Inducted into the Indian Navy two years back, the 45,000 tonne naval ship witnessed the first accident at 5.00 pm on Friday whilst the ship was undergoing maintenance repairs at the naval base.
The Navy has ordered an inquiry into the incident. Action has been taken to render the compartment and area on the ship safe.
INS Vikramaditya is India's largest aircraft carrier with an overall length of about 284 metres and a maximum beam of about 60 metres. The ship has a total of 22 decks and can carry 1,600 personnel.
Built in Russia almost 30 years ago, the ship served the Russian Navy as Admiral Gorshkov till its decommissioning in 1996. India bought the carrier in 2004 for about $2.35 billion and was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2014.
The Navy has been hit by a string of accidents over the last three to four years, with Admiral DK Joshi even resigning as the Navy chief in February 2014 after a mishap on board Kilo-class submarine INS Sindhuratna, which killed two officers and injured several others.
This is the third incident pertaining to the Navy to happen this year, the previous two being fire on soon-to-be decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Viraat in March, which resulted in the death of a chief engineer mechanic and the injury of three others.
Prior to it, in April, a sailor lost his leg while two others were injured in an oxygen cylinder explosion on board INS Nireekshak. The ship was on its way to Mumbai from Visakhapatnam.
