Navy hit by another accident; officer dead)))))) Nine days after a submarine accident triggered the resignation of Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi, a naval officer was killed in a gas leak on board INS Kolkata , officially known as Yard 701, while undergoing delivery trials at the Mazagon Dock. A senior police official told presspersons that a fire-fighting test was under way in the carbon dioxide unit on board the guided-missile destroyer when the gas leak occurred around 12.45 p.m. Both Navy and dockyard personnel were present during the trial. Additional Commissioner of Police Krishna Prakash identified the deceased officer as Commander Kundal Wadhwa. Two dockyard officials, also injured in the gas leak, were undergoing treatment, he added. The Defence Ministry said that as part of the destroyer’s delivery trials, the carbon-dioxide fire-fighting system was being evaluated and accordingly the gas was to be released in one of the machinery compartments. “During the trials, one of the system valves on the CO{-2}bottles malfunctioned leading to leakage of CO{-2}in the compartment. Commander Kundal Wadhwa, Engineering Officer (Desig), inhaled the CO{-2}gas and was critically injured. The officer was rushed to St. George Hospital. However, efforts to revive him failed,” the Ministry said in a statement. BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar, meanwhile, demanded the resignation of Defence Minister A.K. Antony for the latest incident. The former Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash told The Hindu that he believed the gas leak on board INS Kolkata and the Sindhuratna incident should not be linked.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 07:00:47 +0000
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