At least six out of 14 people on a Myanmar military plane got hurt when it slid off the runway at Mizoram's Lengpui airport on Tuesday. The plane was sent to bring back soldiers who sought refuge in Mizoram due to issues with a rebel group in their country.
The Director General of Police in Mizoram mentioned that the injured individuals have been taken to Lengpui hospital for treatment.
The incident happened at Lengpui's challenging tabletop runway.
India returned 184 Myanmar soldiers on Monday who had fled to Mizoram last week during clashes with an ethnic rebel group. An Assam Rifles official confirmed that a total of 276 Myanmar soldiers had entered the northeastern state last week.
These soldiers were flown from Lengpui airport to Sittwe in Rakhine state using Myanmar air force planes. The remaining 92 soldiers were scheduled to be repatriated on Tuesday.
On January 17, the Myanmar soldiers entered Bandukbanga village in Mizoram, near the India-Myanmar-Bangladesh trijunction, with weapons. They sought assistance from the Assam Rifles after escaping from their country, where their camp was taken over by 'Arakan Army' fighters.
The soldiers were initially taken to an Assam Rifles camp at Parva and later moved to Lunglei. They have been under the supervision of the Assam Rifles since then.
Mizoram shares a 510-kilometer border with Myanmar.
India has witnessed a total of 635 Myanmar soldiers seeking refuge in Mizoram after their camps were overrun by ethnic rebel groups and pro-democratic forces. Among them, 359 soldiers have already been sent back to Myanmar.
In November of the previous year, 104 Myanmar Army personnel were transported to Manipur's Moreh town through Indian Air Force helicopters and then repatriated.
This weekend, 36 officers and 240 lower-rank personnel from Myanmar were brought to Aizawl to facilitate their return to Myanmar. They are led by a colonel.
The injured soldiers from the recent incident at Lengpui airport are currently receiving treatment at the hospital in Mizoram.
