2 Army officers among 16 dead in fire at ammo dump

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 31

In a major tragedy, 16 people, including two Army officers, were killed when a massive fire broke out at the Central Ammunition Depot in Pulgaon (Wardha), near Nagpur, in Maharashtra around 1.30 am on Tuesday. The fire was followed by multiple explosions.

An inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

The fire started in one of the explosives stores. A Defence spokesperson said there were 16 fatalities, including two officers, Lt Col RS Pawar and Maj K Manoj. The other dead were an Army jawan and 13 civilian firefighters.

As many as 25 people have been admitted to a hospital ICU.

The fire has been brought under control, but not before extensive damage. However, secondary explosions are still feared and precautionary measures are being taken.

The depot stores artillery ammunition, which is deadly. Small arms and mortars are also stored there.

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Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag left for Pulgaon to make a spot assessment of the damage caused by the explosions.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “It is an unfortunate incident. We have suffered a huge loss of lives and property. I have directed district officials to help whatever help they can. We are providing whatever assistance and resources—primarily medical assistance—required.”

“I pray that those who are injured recover quickly. I have asked Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to visit the spot and take stock of the situation,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Parrikar said there was no sabotage involved in the fire at the central ammunition depot at Pulgaon in the district but the exact cause would be known only after inquiry.

"We are not ruling out any possibility but there is no sabotage as such," he told reporters here.

Fire was contained with timely help from all the concerned persons and only a complete inquiry will reveal its cause, Parrikar said.

It is too early to speculate about the cause, he added.

Parrikar, who visited the injured personnel at the Datta Meghe Medical College and Hospital at Sawangi Meghe in the district, said 130 tonnes of anti-tank mines were destroyed in the fire.

Parrikar, accompanied by the Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, spent more than half an hour meeting the injured personnel at the hospital.

Director General of Military Operations, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, said the fire started in a shed that held “highly sensitive ammunition” and was restricted to that shed only.

He said that among the dead were an Army jawan and 13 civilian firefighters, and not the DSC jawans as reported earlier.

The injured have been admitted to the multispecialty hospital at Wardha and a team of Army doctors has been sent from Pune. He refused to answer a question on the monetary loss caused by the fire.

Villagers woken by loud noise

The intensity of blasts at the ammunition depot in Pulgaon was so high that it shook houses and left tiled roofs shattered.

The window panes and tiled-roofs of houses in the villages were shattered and the residents felt as if they were being rattled by an earthquake and many ran out in panic.

They said they saw flames raging at the site of the mishap with smoke billowing to the skies.

Pravin Savarkar, who along with his wife and aged mother ran to safety, told PTI that the intensity of the fire and blast was such that utensils in their house were thrown off the shelves.

Some of the villagers, particularly the elderly residents, calmed others as they could guess what was happening as similar incidents had taken place at the depot earlier also.

Today's was the third major incident in the Central Ammunition Depot in Pulgaon, one of Asia's biggest ammunition storehouses.

Similar incidents had also occurred in 1989 and 1995, but no loss of life was reported though ammunition worth crores of rupees were then destroyed.

The fire at the ammunition depot, situated between hillocks on either side, came as a shock to the residents of Agargaon, Pipri, Nachangaon and Magejhari villages.

Magejhari is the closest village to the depot with a population of 1,500 people, Nachangaon has about 2,500 residents, Agargan - 3,500 and Pipri has a population of 800.

A youth, who lives in the depot quarters, said as soon as the fire occurred, most of the villagers ran out of their houses and spent time till dawn in great anxiety. (With inputs from agencies)