Toll goes up to 6 in Maharashtra Army depot blast

The toll in the blast at Army's ammunition depot in Wardha of Maharashtra has shot up to six, officials said on Tuesday, November 20. Another 10 persons are injured, including four seriously.

The Maharashtra government declared a compensation of ₹5 lakh for the kin of the deceased and ₹2 lakh for those who were critically injured in the explosion.

The tragedy occurred at the Pulgaon Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) around 7.15 am when they were unloading a consignment of discarded ammunition intended for destruction at the demolition ground.

According to local eyewitnesses, the deafening blast occurred in one of the ammunition boxes which were being unloaded in the sprawling open demolition ground.

They said the intensity of the blast was so severe that the victims were thrown several metres away and their bodies burnt and badly mangled, with body pieces strewn over a large area.

The disposal work was being carried out by the Ordnance Factory (OF), Khamaria, Jabalpur with the help of an authorized contractor at the Sonegaon demolition grounds.

The contract labourers help dig up pits and place sandbags over the explosives, according to a defence spokesperson, Nagpur, Group Capt. BB Pande.

Among the fatalities is one staffer of the Khamaria OF and three casual workers employed by the contractor and locals.

The injured have been rushed to the nearby Acharya Vinoba Bhave Rural Hospital, Sawangi-Meghe village where the condition of four is critical, according to Medical Superintendent (Dr.) Chandrashekhar Mahakalkar.

He said the four seriously injured have undergone surgery by specialist doctors and teams of expert medicos are monitoring them.

The names of the victims are: Uday Veersingh, 37, of Jabalpur, Narayan S. Pachare, 55, Vilas L. Pachare, 40, and Prabhakar R. Wankhede, 40, all from Sonegaon, Pravin P. Munjewar, 25, and Rajkumar R. Bhovate, 23, of Kelapur.

Top police, Army, Khamaria OF and civil officials have rushed to the site to investigate the matter. Pulgaon CAD is around 110 km from the state's second capital, Nagpur.