In a tragic accident at the Army’s Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) at Pulgaon in Maharashtra, an accidental fire has killed 17 jawans including two officers while another 19 were injured.
The incident occurred between 0130 -0200 am early morning on Tuesday.
Army sources said that two officers and 15 Defence Security Corps (DSC) jawans have been killed while another two officers and 17 DSC jawans have been injured, some critically.
They added that one ammunition shed had caught fire. The main fire has been extinguished, however, officials said that secondary fire and explosions cannot be ruled out due to the large amount of ammunition there.
Meanwhile Army Chief General Dalbir Singh is on his way to Pulgaon to make first hand assessment of the situation and on-going salvage operations, a senior officer said.
Prime Minister too in a tweet said that he had asked Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to visit the spot & take stock of the situation. Mr. Parrikar is expected to reach Nagpur by 1pm.
“Pained by loss of lives caused by a fire at central ammunition depot in Pulgaon, Maharashtra. My thoughts are with the bereaved families,” Mr. Modi tweeted.
CAD, Pulgaon is the largest ammunition depot of the Indian Army, and is also one of the largest depots in the world.
