Lt Cdr DS Chauhan dies in blaze on aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya

New Delhi: A young naval officer died on Friday afternoon due to suffocation in a fire which broke out onboard aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya when it was entering the harbour in Karnataka's Karwar. 

Lt Cdr DS Chauhan, who hailed from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, had got married recently. 

"One officer dead during fire fighting ops onboard aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya in Karwar, Karnataka. Navy has ordered a Board of Inquiry to probe the incident. Fire was controlled by its crew preventing any serious damage to the warship's combat capability," the Navy said in a statement.

A Board of Inquiry has been ordered to probe the fire, a Navy spokesperson said.

The blaze was tamed by the ship's crew, preventing any serious damage to its combat capability.Chauhan was immediately taken to the Naval hospital, INHS Patanjali, in Karwar for medical attention.

In recent times, there have been a string of fatal accidents involving the Indian Navy's assets. 

Chetak chopper crashA catastrophe was averted on April 16 by aircrew when their Chetak helicopter ditched at Arabian sea, the Indian Navy said. 

A board of inquiry was constituted to probe the cause of the technical failure leading to the loss of the helicopter, from a warship which was deployed in the Arabian sea."As per reports, the helicopter developed technical failure prior to ditching and the crew displayed immense professional prowess and sound training in deftly landing the helicopter in the water and successfully egressing from it," the Navy said.It said all three crew members were safe. 

'INS Gomati'

On March 28 this year, a 21-year-old navy sailor died of injuries during weapon firing drill onboard 'INS Gomati' off Mumbai coast. Mohan Raj was a native of Katpadi in Tamil Nadu.

Raj, a First Class Seaman, suffered a grave injury while carrying out combat weapon firing drills at sea, said a statement by the Navy.

He was airlifted to naval hospital 'INHS Aswini' but succumbed to injuries. 'INS Gomati' is a Godavari-class guided-missile frigate, which was built by Mazagon Dock Ltd in Mumbai and has an indigenous content of 72 per cent. (UNI)