Dozens feared dead or injured in huge ammo depot blast & fire in western India
The blast at the Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) took place in the city of Pulgaon, located in the Maharashtra region in India’s west, at around 1:30 am local time. The resulting fire spread immediately and killed at least 15 soldiers and two officers tasked with protecting India’s ministry of defense sites, NDTV reported.
வெடிபொருள் சேமிப்பு கிடங்கில் தீ விபத்து: 17 இராணுவ வீரர்கள் பலிhttps://t.co/9qSRjSYkp8#Pulgaon#FIREpic.twitter.com/0k5wayQ2B0
— ippodhu dot com (@ippodhu) 31 мая 2016 г.
Although, the fire was soon contained, several other explosions followed, prompting a mass evacuation of the residents living in the village near the site, NewsXBureau reported.
“The main fire at one of the sheds has been extinguished. The situation is being stabilized. Secondary fire and explosions cannot be ruled out now,” the army officer said, as cited by Hindustan times.
Wardha: 2 army officers among 17 killed,18 injured in fire at central ammunition depot at Pulgaon(70kms from Nagpur) pic.twitter.com/sPMl84cwUM
— ABP News (@abpnewstv) 31 мая 2016 г.
The exact cause of the fire is not yet known, and the damage to ammunition is being assessed.
The head of India’s defense ministry, Manohar Parrikar, is expected to arrive at the depot.
2 Officers & 17 DSC jawans injured in fire accident at Central ammunition Depot in Maharas… https://t.co/eRWm1bn2ITpic.twitter.com/Kq6psUs44U
— Ankit Gautam (@PerfectlyAnkit) 31 мая 2016 г.
CAD, a heightened military security zone, is considered to be the second largest ammunition store in Asia.
Dear readers and commenters,
We have implemented a new engine for our comment section. We hope the transition goes smoothly for all of you. Unfortunately, the comments made before the change have been lost due to a technical problem. We are working on restoring them, and hoping to see you fill up the comment section with new ones. You should still be able to log in to comment using your social-media profiles, but if you signed up under an RT profile before, you are invited to create a new profile with the new commenting system.
Sorry for the inconvenience, and looking forward to your future comments,
RT Team.