A junior commissioned officer (JCO) among nine soldiers died and another injured when an army truck, part of a three vehicle recce patrol, veered off the road and plunged into a deep gorge near Kiari in Leh district on Saturday evening, said officials.

Leh-based defence spokesperson Lt Col. PS Sidhu said, “the convoy was moving from Leh to Kiari when the truck went off-road.”

“Nine soldiers that included a JCO died and another was injured in the tragic incident”, he added.

The spokesperson informed that the incident happened around 7 pm.

Leh SSP, PD Nitya said, “At 1645 hrs (6.45 pm) an army vehicle in which 10 army personnel including the driver were travelling from Leh to Nyoma, met with an accident 6 km short of Kiari.”

“The vehicle skidded off the road and rolled down into a deep gorge. As soon as the reports reached local police, a police team rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation,” she added.

The SSP informed that all the injured were shifted to army’s MI room.

“Unfortunately, eight personnel died on the spot. One more soldier succumbed to his injuries while being taken to Leh hospital taking the death toll to nine. Another soldier is critically injured,” she said.

“An ALS (Ashok Leyland Stallion) vehicle which was moving as part of a convoy from Leh to Nyoma, skidded into the valley at approximately 5:45-6 PM, seven km short of Kiari. There were 10 personnel travelling in the vehicle out of which nine died and one got injured. The injured personnel has been shifted to the hospital,” Indian Army officials said in a statement issued here.

The army team on the ill-fated truck reportedly constituted of 311 Medium Regiment (artillery).

There were at least three officers, two JCOs and 34 jawans travelling in three vehicles convoy that comprised a Maruti Gypsy, a truck and an ambulance.

Army is yet to issue the list of dead personnel.