MUMBAI, India (AFP) — India’s military has a history of fires and other accidents that have been blamed on lax safety standards, including a blaze on a submarine that left two officers dead off the Mumbai coast in 2014.
Firefighters using ten fire engines worked through the night to contain the depot blaze, Ramesh Barde, a fire officer with the Nagpur fire department, told AFP.
“The fire broke out at 1:30 am (2100 GMT Monday) and nearby fire engines reached the venue by 2:30 am,” he said.
“The fire was brought under control by 6:15 am. The situation is under control and a report is being prepared,” he added, speaking from the scene.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “pained by loss of lives”, adding on Twitter that his “thoughts are with the bereaved families”.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the accident had caused a “great loss of lives and property”.
“It’s a very unfortunate incident. Many of our men were killed in the blaze,” he told reporters.
In 2007, in the northern region of Indian Kashmir, a fire wrecked an ammunition dump, exploding artillery shells and mortar rounds, which rained down on surrounding villages. At least 17 people were killed and two dozen injured.
A fire also ripped through one of the army’s largest ammunition depots in 2010 in Kolkata, destroying 150 tonnes of explosives and ammunition. No-one was killed in the accident.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was reportedly on his way to the accident site, around 700 kilometres (435 miles) east of Mumbai.
vm-pdh/tha/iw
© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
