Yamunanagar (Haryana), September 1, 2026 — An Indian Army soldier remains missing in the Yamuna river 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 on Tuesday. Three other soldiers aboard the vessel swam to safety. A large search-and-rescue operation was under way late Tuesday night.
The motorboat had been deployed in the upstream stretch of the barrage when it reportedly suffered a mechanical failure and started going under in strong current. The four personnel on board, all wearing life jackets, jumped into the water. They were carried towards the Western Yamuna Canal. Three reached safety after swimming a considerable distance; the fourth could not be located.
Police and local reports placed the incident in the late afternoon to evening hours on the final day of a multi-day exercise at the barrage, which sits on the Haryana–Himachal Pradesh border. Hathnikund Barrage regulates Yamuna flows into the Western Yamuna Canal; officials said the river was running with substantial discharge at the time.
Search operation launched
Army personnel, a team from Pratap Nagar police station, and rescue units from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh joined the effort soon after the accident was reported. Army divers were deployed, and the submerged motorboat was recovered after a prolonged operation. Irrigation authorities reduced the release of water from the barrage into the Western Yamuna Canal to aid the search. Officials also requested a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team.
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 reduced canal flow at the Army’s request and that the district administration had been asked to send NDRF support.
The Indian Army had not issued an official statement by late Tuesday. The identity of the missing soldier was not formally disclosed. Early local accounts differed on unit affiliation and the precise number of personnel in the water; subsequent reports from multiple outlets converged on four soldiers in the boat, with one unaccounted for.
Context of the exercise
Hathnikund is a frequent site for water-borne training because of the barrage gates, canal off-take and variable current. Local reporting described the drill as flood-rescue practice. Some accounts said the boat drifted toward a high-flow or “danger” zone before it failed. All personnel were said to have been equipped with life jackets; one local report also mentioned oxygen cylinders as part of the exercise kit.
Search teams continued working after dark. No recovery of the missing soldier had been reported at the time of this dispatch. Further official details from Army headquarters were awaited.
