India’s prized warship INS Betwa, a guided missile frigate, tipped over and crashed to its side while undocking in Mumbai on Monday, in what the navy described as an “unprecedented and sad” incident. Two sailors have died while 14 others have been rescued with minor injuries.
The 3,850-ton ship is lying on its side at the naval dockyard. It was docked for underwater repairs. Around 2 pm, while the ship was being returned to the water – a process that involves tipping it – the system snagged and the entire ship fell sideways. The main mast of the ship broke.
One of the sailors who died fell off the frigate and drowned while the second had been inside the ship when it tipped over.