Indian Army Soldier Missing After Motorboat Sinks in Yamuna Training Drill at Hathnikund Barrage
Yamunanagar (Haryana), September 1, 2026 — An Indian Army soldier went missing in the Yamuna river on Tuesday after an Army motorboat developed a technical fault and began sinking during a training and flood-rescue mock drill at Hathnikund Barrage in Yamunanagar district. Three other soldiers who were aboard the vessel managed to swim to safety, while authorities launched a large search-and-rescue operation that continued late into the night.
The incident took place in the upstream stretch of the barrage, where the boat was being used as part of a multi-day exercise. According to the information available, the vessel suffered a mechanical failure in strong current and started to go under. All four personnel on board were wearing life jackets and jumped into the water as the boat sank. They were then swept towards the Western Yamuna Canal. Three of them were able to cover a considerable distance and reach safety, but one soldier could not be traced.
Police and local reports placed the episode in the late afternoon to evening hours on the final day of the drill. Hathnikund Barrage, located on the Haryana-Himachal Pradesh border, regulates the flow of the Yamuna into the Western Yamuna Canal, and officials said the river was carrying substantial discharge at the time of the accident. The strong current appears to have complicated both the rescue and the effort to locate the missing soldier.
Multi-agency search launched
Shortly after the accident was reported, Army personnel, a team from Pratap Nagar police station, and rescue units from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh joined the operation. Army divers were deployed to assist in the search, and the submerged motorboat was later recovered after a prolonged effort. Irrigation authorities also reduced the release of water from the barrage into the Western Yamuna Canal to help the search teams work more effectively.
Station House Officer Rohtas Kumar of Pratap Nagar police station confirmed that one Army soldier was missing in the Yamuna. He said the Irrigation and Water Resources Department had cut down canal flow at the Army’s request and that the district administration had been asked to arrange support from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
The Indian Army had not issued an official statement by late Tuesday. The identity of the missing soldier was also not formally disclosed. Early local accounts varied on the unit involved and even on the number of personnel in the water, but later reports from multiple outlets converged on the account that four soldiers were in the boat and one remained unaccounted for.
Exercise site often used for water training
Hathnikund Barrage is regularly used for water-borne training because of its gates, canal off-take and changing current. Local reporting described the activity as flood-rescue practice. Some accounts said the boat drifted towards a high-flow or “danger” zone before the technical fault occurred. All the personnel were said to have been equipped with life jackets, and one local report also mentioned oxygen cylinders as part of the exercise equipment.
Search teams remained on the ground after dark, but no recovery of the missing soldier had been reported by the time of this dispatch. Further official details from Army headquarters were awaited.
