Six people were killed and several were left injured due to an explosion at an ordnance depot in Wardha, Maharashtra, today morning. The Central Ammunition Depot (CAD,) where the explosion took place, is situated at Pulgaon in Wardha district, 120 km from Nagpur.
The incident took place when the employees were disposing off an old explosive, a 23 mm shell, which exploded and killed 4 people on the spot. The injured were rushed to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Wardha. Out of those admitted to the hospital, 2 died while undergoing treatment and three are still critical.
B.B. Pande, the Junior Captain of Defence PRO, Nagpur, said, “Today morning at 7:10 am while carrying out the demolition of old explosives by the staff of ordnance factory Khamaria, Jabalpur there was an accident. The demolition was being carried out in the demolition land under the jurisdiction of central arms depots, Pulgaon. While carrying out the demolition there was an accident.”
Police officers and fire brigade officials rushed to the spot and started the rescue operation.
Nikhil Pingle, Senior Police Officer, Wardha, said, “One of the boxes exploded while unloading the ammunition. The incident took place on open land.”
The deceased include an employee of the ammunition factory and three labourers. Nirmala Sitharaman, the Minister of Defence, took to Twitter, and expressed her concern about the tragic incident.
Saddened by the accident at CAD at Pulgaon, Dist.Wardha, Maharashtra. Gen Manager, Ordnance Factory,Chanda & the dist.admin are coordinating rescue & relief ops. Grateful to Shri @SMungantiwar, Minister of Finance for his efforts. @DrSubhashMoS @drajaykumar_ias @DefenceMinIndia
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) November 20, 2018
