A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) was among eight soldiers dead and two others were injured after an army vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in Leh district of Ladakh on Saturday, officials said.

An army officer said that the accident took place at Kyari in Nyoma area of Leh this evening.

Soon after the incident, he said, a massive rescue operation was launched at the site. However, eight soldiers died on the spot and two others were injured, he said. The injured have been evacuated to hospital, the officer added. The soldiers were moving from Karu Garrison to Kyari when the accident took place, sources said.