Mumbai: A major fire broke out at the country’s largest ammunition bunker, the Army’s Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) at Pulgaon, near Wardha, Maharashtra, at about 1 am Tuesday, killing 16 people and injuring 17.
According to an Army spokesperson, two officers, one jawan and 13 civilian fire-fighting staff lost their lives. Ministry of defence (MoD) sources told this newspaper that three of the 15 injured were in critical condition.
The CAD is the second-largest ammunition depot in Asia and occupies almost 7,000 acres. After the incident, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag and defence minister Manohar Parrikar visited the spot and Army HQ ordered an inquiry.
Sources said the fire may have been caused by the extremely hot weather.
A total of 130 tonnes of ammunition, worth almost Rs 100.44 crore, was destroyed, sources said.
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The fire, which started in one of the sheds that housed “highly sensitive ammunition”, was first detected by soldiers on night duty who immediately set off the fire alarm and tried to put out the blaze, resulting in injuries to a few soldiers.
As a precautionary step, the residents of 10 villages in the vicinity were evacuated as the civil authorities feared the fumes from the exploding ammunition could affect them.
“...in efforts to douse the fire, two officers and 14 personnel (one Army jawan and 13 civilian fire-fighting staff) lost their lives and two officers and 15 personnel (nine Army jawans and six civilian fire-fighting staff) were injured,” the Director-General of Military Operations, Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, told reporters in New Delhi. Loud explosions were heard as the raging fire lit up the night sky.
Residents of the adjoining villages of Muradgaon, Agorgaon, Yashgaon, Nagjhari and Pimpri were evacuated to the Nagar Parishad school in Devlai and Zilla Parishad school in Digdo.
Security at risk: The accident was the latest to hit the Indian armed forces
- In August 2013 submarine INS Sindhurakshak burst into flames in Mumbai, sinking the vessel and leaving 18 sailors dead.
- In February 2014 a fire aboard a nuclear submarine also killed two officers off the Mumbai coast.
- In 2007, in Kashmir, a fire wrecked an ammunition dump, exploding artillery shells and mortar rounds, which rained down on surrounding villages.
- A fire ripped through one of the largest ammunition depots in 2010 in Kolkata, destroying 150 tonnes of ammo
