SRINAGAR: At least 25 army jawans and fire services personnel were injured in a major fire which broke out in an military ammunition depot in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, defence officials said.
The fire broke out in the 21 Field Ordinance Depot at Khandroo at around 9.15 AM and resulted in a series of explosions.
Two helicopter loads of injured army personnel have landed inside the Badamibagh cantonment, the headquarter of the Army's 15 Corps, defence spokesman Lt Col A K Mathur said.
He refused to give the exact number of injured in the incident saying evacuation was the top priority.
There are several security forces camps around the depot, defence sources said. A fire services official was injured when he was hit by a shell as he was trying to douse the flames, the sources said.
A portion of the blaze has been brought under control but the situation would be declared normal only after all the shells have stopped exploding, they added.
Although the exact cause of the blaze is not known yet, the sources said a few shots were heard in the area before the fire broke out. Hence, the possibility of a militant attack cannot be ruled out, they added.
The army and police have evacuated at least 2,000 villagers living inside one kilometre radius from the ordinance depot to safer areas, the sources added.
Senior army, police and civil officials have rushed to the spot. Army is likely to order a court of inquiry into the incident, they added.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment