A major fire broke out at the Army's Central Ammunition Depot at Pulgaon, Maharashtra, killing 16 people during efforts to tame the fire. Initial reports said the fire started in one of the sheds that housed "highly sensitive ammunition", around 1 am on Tuesday morning.
Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, Director General of Military Operations released a media statement saying, "Immediate action was taken by the fire fighting parties and Quick Reaction Teams located in the depot by putting the fire fighting mechanism into place as per laid down procedures. This restricted the fire to one shed only which continued sensitive ammunition." Stating that the cause of the fire is yet to be known, he said, "Actions to assess the damage are in progress. An inquiry has been ordered by the Army."
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Army Chief General Dalbir Singh rushed to the site on the instructions of PM Modi, to make first hand assessment of the situation and on-going salvage operations. The area is the Indian Army's largest ammunition depot, spread over an area of 7000 acres. It stocks ammo including bombs, grenades, shells, assorted rifles, missiles and other explosives from various factories comes here first and is then distributed to various forward areas. The 16 who lost their lives include two officers, one jawan, and 13 civilian fire fighting staff. Other 17, nine jawans and six fire fighters were also injured. The injured have been evacuted to multi speciality hospital, Wardha which is 35 kms from Pulgaon. Thousands of families living in nearby towns and villages have been evacuated from around the depot.
"Sixteen lives have been lost, they sacrificed their lives to ensure that the fire doesn't spread I am deeply pained at the loss of lives, they sacrificed their lives and managed to contain fire. The fire has been doused but we're monitoring the situation," said Parrikar.
The army has ordered a Court of Inquiry or investigation; sources said they cannot confirm if the fire was an accident or sabotage. Firefighters using 10 fire engines worked through the night to contain the blaze, said Ramesh Barde, fire officer with the Nagpur fire department. "The fire was brought under control by 6:15 am. The situation is under control and a report is being prepared," he added.
The Prime Minister shared his condolences in a tweet that read, "Pained by loss of lives caused by a fire at central ammunition depot in Pulgaon, Maharashtra. My thoughts are with the bereaved families."
