( dpa ) - Five sailors have died on an Indian Navy ship after inhaling poisonous gas while carrying out repairs on the vessel, an official said Saturday.
"The naval personnel were carrying out maintenance work and inadvertently inhaled hydrogen sulphide gas. The accident was not due to a fire or any other cause," a Navy spokesman said.
The incident took place on the Indian Navy's second largest warship, INS Jalawa, on Friday night during an exercise in the Bay of Bengal, the spokesman said.
Five sailors had died and three were being treated in hospital at the southern port city of Vishakhapattanam, it was said. One of the hospitalized sailors was in critical condition.
The Navy has ordered a probe into the accident.
The INS Jalawa was purchased from the United States Navy in 2007. It was earlier named USS Trenton.