A mysterious blast inside the army’s 21 Field Ammunition Depot (FAD) in Khundru area of this south Kashmir district on Monday killed two labourers and wounded two others.
A police official said the blast took place in theammunition technical area laboratory of the camp.
“Two labourers received splinter injuries and wereimmediately shifted to military health facility but they succumbed. The twoothers after being given initial treatment were shifted to Government MedicalCollege (GMC) Anantnag for specialized treatment,” he said.
Those killed were identified as Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, son ofGhulam Hassan Bhat, a resident of Pahloo, Shangus, and GulzarAhamad Khan, sonof Mir Aalam Khan, a resident of Maidphal, Utersoo, Shangus.
Two injured were identified as FidaHussain son of SyedMuhammad of Gopalpora- Shangus and Shabir Ahmad son of Muhammad Anwar Khan ofLarnoo, Kokernag.
“The cause and nature of the blast is being investigating,”the police official said. As soon as the bodies of the two deceased reachedtheir native villages, a pall of gloom descended over the entire area.
Khundru is one of the biggest ammunition depots in theKashmir valley. There have been several such incidents in the past as well. OnAugust 11, in 2007 more than 20 labourers were killed and several injured in afire which broke out after an accidental blast in the depot.
On October 19, 2011, a labourer was critically injured whenhe stepped over a landmine near the fence of the depot while cleaning the lawn.On March 14, 2015, a labourer was killedand two others were injured when a shell went off inside the depot.
There have been several other instances of live shellsexploding around the villages surrounding the depot resulting in fatalities. OnMarch 1, 2018, two minors were injured when a live shell they were fiddlingwith exploded in Rakhi-Brah, Ranipora in Shangus area. On June 7, 2015 a live shell,inside the dead stock, went off during trans-shipping in a load carrier inRoonipora village of Shangus killing a labourer on the spot and injuring threeothers including two women. In a similar incident 10 persons including fourchildren were killed in the same area in 2001.
The army has been regularly carrying the exercise ofdiffusing the leftover ammunition in RakhiBrah area in a field surrounded bymountains and later the labourers collect the scrap.