The mortal remains of eight Army personnel, who were part of the group of soldiers who went missing in Sikkim’s flash floods, were recovered, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed on Saturday (October 7).

The Defence Minister expressed his anguish over the loss of lives in the service of the nation and said that their sacrifices will not be forgotten.

“Deeply pained by the tragic loss of precious lives including eight Army personnel in the recent flash floods arising out of glacial lake burst in Sikkim,” Singh said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Out of the 23 missing soldiers, one was rescued while mortal remains of eight brave soldiers were recovered. Their sacrifice, while being deployed in forward areas in the service of the nation, will not be forgotten,” he added.

Singh informed that the operations to rescue the remaining 14 soldiers and missing civilians are underway.

Sikkim flash floods

The soldiers went missing following the flash floods on Wednesday (October 4). The army personnel went missing after a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in north Sikkim triggered a flash flood in the Teesta River basin.

The flood in Sikkim that started around 1.30 am was made worse by the release of water from Chungthang dam, the officials said earlier.

The release of water from the Chungthang dam led to a sudden increase in water levels up to 15-20 feet high downstream, defence spokesperson Lt Col Mahendra Rawat said.

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