Sindhurakshak mishap: Names of 3 Naval officers trapped inside submarine

New Delhi/Mumbai: In the worst Naval tragedy in India, three Naval officers and 15 sailors are reported to be trapped inside the destroyed submarine INS Sindhurakshak, and the chances of their survival are presumed to be next to nil. The divers have opened the first hatch of the submarine, and it will take time before the dewatering and other operations can take place and only then the exact casualties can be ascertained, said Naval chief Admiral D K Joshi.The three naval officers inside the submarine are : Lt Commander Arun Kumar, Lt Commander Nikhilesh Pal, and Lt Commander V Ramakrishnan.The rest 15 inside the submarine are sailors. All these 18 personnel were on Duty Watch Tuesday night, said Admiral Joshi. There were, in all, 85 officers and sailors working in INS Sindhurakshak, out of which only 21 were on Duty Watch on Tuesday night. The remaining officers and sailors come to work on the submarine at around 8 am on weekdays, Admiral Joshi said.Commander Rajesh Ramkumar is the Commanding officer of submarine. He is safe and is not inside the submarine.About the human angle of the tragedy, Admiral Joshi said, Two of the three officers inside the submarine are married, while six of the 15 sailors inside the submarine are married. The wives of the missing officers are with the Naval Command, waiting for news about their missing husbands. Three of the sailors who were on the upper casing of the submarine at the time of mishap, were hospitalized with minor injuries and discharged from Indian Navy hospital Ashwini, Admiral Joshi said. Our Family Support Cell and Naval Officers Wives Association (NOWA) are providing the family members with professional medical counselling, the Naval chief said.