HYDERABAD (India), Feb 23: Three Indian sailors were killed and 20 injured when discarded ammunition exploded while it was being thrown into the sea from a missile ship off the east coast, police said on Thursday.

Six of the injured were in a serious condition after Wednesday night’s accident, a local police commissioner told AFP.

“The mishap occurred when the ship was engaged in dumping life-expired ammunition,” a statement from the Indian navy said.

“Preliminary reports indicate that one of the boxes, containing life-expired powder charge, caught fire towards the end of (the) dumping operation resulting in the unfortunate incident,” the statement said.—AFP