PTI
NEW DELHI
At least two people, including a civilian, were on Friday killed and another two injured following leakage of toxic fumes from the sewage plant on board Russian-made aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, which was undergoing repairs at Karwar in Karnataka.
The incident of gas leakage took place at about 5 pm while the ship was undergoing maintenance repairs.
Maintenance work was being undertaken in the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) compartment. Due to inhalation of the toxic fumes, four personnel (two naval sailors and two civilian workers) were evacuated to Naval Hospital at Karwar, a statement by the Navy said.
Two personnel, namely Rakesh Kumar Shipwright Artificer Class 4, and Mohandas Kolambkar, an employee of Royal Marine, succumbed due to gas inhalation, it said.
The next of kin of the deceased have been informed. The condition of the other two personnel is stable, the statement said.
The Navy has ordered an inquiry into the incident and action has been taken to render the compartment and area on the ship safe.
INS Vikramaditya is India's largest naval ship and equipped with a variety of integral weapons and sensors and it was undergoing maintenance repair since June 1.
This is the first major refit-and-repair of INS Vikramaditya, or the refurbished Admiral Gorshkov that was inducted in November 2013 under a $2.33 billion deal with Russia. With the 45 MiG-29Ks ordered for another $2 billion to operate from its deck, the aircraft carrier is the costliest single weapons platform the country has ever bought.
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.
The INS Sindhuratna accident had come after another submarine, INS Sindhurakshak, had sunk at the Mumbai dockyard after several internal explosions in August 2013, which had killed three officers and 15 sailors.
