Fire breaks out in Indian arms depot; 70 trucks gutted
JODHPUR, Jan 11: Two people were killed and at least eight others wounded in a fire on Friday at an Indian army ordnance depot in Rajasthan.
Authorities evacuated thousands of residents who lived near the depot outside of Bikaner, close to the border with Pakistan, as they battled the blaze.
The depot usually houses a number of rocket launchers and missiles, but officials said most had been shifted to the border in the wake of the standoff with Pakistan.
The fire erupted around 3.30pm (3pm PST) and blazed late into the night as firefighters battled to put it out.
“Two civilians died and at least eight people are in the hospital right now with serious burn injuries,” a police official said.
“Two houses have been gutted in Bikaner. The toll could go up,” he added.
An army spokesman refused to confirm the deaths but said, “There is a lot of explosive material in the depot so the danger to lives is high.”
He said the blaze had extensively damaged army property and trucks.
“The damage to army property is very high. The fire has destroyed dozens of army trucks transporting ammunition to the Rajasthan border,” he said.
The Press Trust of India reported that the fire engulfed at least 70 trucks which were part of a 250-truck army convoy carrying ammunition from East Punjab to the Rajasthan border with Pakistan.
The news agency said the fire had started in one of the trucks waiting to enter the ammunition depot, but the army spokesman said the cause was unknown.
“The cause of the fire is not known. We will carry out a thorough investigation into it before pointing fingers,” he said.
The spokesman said villagers living within a six-kilometre radius of the depot had been evacuated to safer places by the army and state administration.
“We have evacuated thousands of civilians living in Ganganagar, Bikaner and other affected neighbourhoods,” said a state housing official.
“The blasts have forced the evacuation of a large number of people, including army personnel and their families,” Singh added.
The official said the administration had created overnight shelter for the displaced civilians in state-run schools and colleges.—AFP
