At least six people were killed and 10 others sustained serious injuries in a blast at Pulgaon Army depot in Maharashtra's Wardha on Tuesday morning. The blast took place at demolition ground while the explosives were being unloaded for disposal, defence officials said. Wardha's Additional Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pingle said that the incident occurred at around 7 am in the morning. Around 10 to 15 contract labourers were at the site when one of the ammunition boxes exploded. "The blast occurred in one of the ammunition boxes while unloading the ammunition. The incident took place in an open land," news agency PTI quoted Pingle as saying.
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Soon after receiving the information, police and fire brigade teams rushed to the spot to carry out the rescue operation. the injured were taken to a hospital in the nearby Savangi village.
“While four people were killed on the spot, two others succumbed to injuries in hospital. The deceased included an ammunition factory employee and labourers,” Inspector General of Police (Nagpur Range) KM Prasanna was quoted by the agency.
This is not the first time such an incident has taken place at the Wardha Army depot. In 2016, a massive fire in the depot had killed 16 Army personnel, including two officers.
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One of Asia's biggest ammunition depot, Pulgaon Army depot houses India’s largest stockpile of explosives and weapons in the country. Arms and ammunition, including bombs, grenades, shells, assorted rifles, missiles, and other explosives first reach Wardha Army depot and then distributed to Army stations across the country.
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