HANOI: Six Vietnamese soldiers were killed when their Soviet-built infantry fighting vehicle sank during a military training exercise in the northern province of Bac Ninh, the National Defence Ministry said on Saturday (Nov 14), reported German Press Agency (dpa).
The accident occurred at around 8.25 am (0125 GMT) on Thursday at the TB1 National Shooting Range in Bien Son Commune.
A Soviet-built BMP-1 armoured vehicle belonging to the 102nd Regiment of the 308th Division, Army Corps 12, encountered a problem during combat readiness training and sank, killing all six crew members, according to the ministry.
No further details about the cause of the accident were immediately available.
The soldiers were posthumously awarded honours.
The BMP-1 is an infantry fighting vehicle introduced by the Soviet Union in the 1960s.
It was designed to be amphibious, enabling it to cross rivers and other water obstacles using its tracks for propulsion in water.
The ministry’s statement did not specify whether the vehicle was crossing a river, operating in a lake or being used for training in another environment. Nor did it explain what caused the vehicle to sink.
An amphibious vehicle can sink if water enters its hull, for example, because of compromised seals or a failure of its water-crossing systems.
The incident could raise broader questions about Vietnam’s continued reliance on old military equipment, particularly the age, maintenance and operational readiness of its armoured fleet.
There was no immediate information about the sunken vehicle’s age or whether any problems with its condition had contributed to the accident. - Bernama-dpa
