Mumbai: The Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar on Wednesday condoled the deaths of three Indian Navy personnel killed in the explosion on board INS Ranvir on Tuesday evening. Meanwhile, the Navy has completed the post-mortem and readied the logistics to fly their mortal remains to their families in three states by tomorrow.
“Adm R Hari Kumar, CNS and all personnel of Indian Navy extend heartfelt condolences to the families of Krishan Kumar MCPO I, Surinder Kumar MCPO II & AK Singh MCPO II, who succumbed to injuries caused by the unfortunate incident onboard INS Ranvir. We fully stand by with the families in this difficult time,” a Navy spokesperson said.
According to sources, the bodies were sent by Colaba police station to JJ Hospital for post-mortem at 3 am and were handed back by the hospital to INS Ranvir doctors at 9 am. The Colaba police station has registered three separate accidental death reports regarding the incident which also left 11 sailors injured.
Krishan Kumar was 47 and his family is based in Sutana in Panipat Haryana; 48- year Surinder Singh ‘s family is based in village Sathwin in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, and Arvind Kumar Singh hailed from Siswa Rasulpur village in Saran, Bihar. The last rites will be conducted with full military honours at their native place.
A board of inquiry has been ordered into the incident to ascertain the cause of the explosion, but speculative reports said gas leakage in an unmanned AC compartment could be the reason. The Navy had said on Tuesday that the explosion was in “an internal compartment on board INS Ranvir”, and no major material damage had been reported.
Meanwhile, denying speculative reports that three of the injured personnel were in a critical condition, a spokesperson said, “Eleven personnel sustained injuries in yesterday's incident. All are being treated in Naval Hospital and no one is critical.
