4 jawans die as Army truck falls into gorge

SILIGURI: Four defence personnel, including a junior commissioned officer, died after the truck they were travelling in fell into a gorge along the Rhenock-Rongli state highway in Sikkim on Thursday morning, officials said. The Army Stallion truck was on its way to Zuluk from a transit camp in Bengal's Pedong.
The deceased have been identified as JCO K Thangapandi, a resident of Tamil Nadu, sepoys Pradeep Patel and W Peter, and naik Gursev Singh.All four were a part of a unit based in Binnaguri. While Patel was a resident of MP, Peter was from Manipur and Singh was from Haryana. Patel was also the driver of the Stallion.
"The Stallion fell around 700 to 800 feet into the gorge near Dalopchand Dara while negotiating the hilly road around 10.15am on Thursday. The medical team reached the spot and conducted the rescue operations. Investigation has been initiated to trace the exact sequence of events," said an Army officer.