Huge blaze at Indian arms depot

The weapons were for use by troops in Kashmir

By Asit Jolly in Chandigarh

A devastating fire in an Indian Army ammunition storage facility has resulted in the destruction of many tonnes of live artillery shells, tank ammunition and related military hardware.

A local villager examines debris

The fire broke out late on Sunday evening at a military cantonment located just outside Pathankot in the northern state of Punjab.

Residents of villages on the edge of the ammunition dump said the fire was quickly followed by a series of deafening explosions, which sent shockwaves across several kilometres.

"There were more than 500 separate blasts during the first hour after the fire started," they said.

Eyewitnesses said the night sky lit up like a fireworks display.

Residents flee

Thousands of panic-stricken villagers living nearby as well as those in some urban localities situated close to the cantonment area hurriedly packed their belongings and began fleeing to safer locations.

Ammunition accidents

1999 - Huge quantity lost in Kashmir when a store was hit by a Pakistani shell

2000 - $80m worth lost after fire at Bharatpur depot

A little later, the local district administration also ordered the evacuation of five villages, which were believed to be particularly vulnerable because of their location close to the ammunition dump.

The local chief of police in Pathankot, Vibhu Raj, told the BBC that the blaze "continued for at least four hours and fire-fighting equipment had to be requisitioned from all nearby towns and cities before things could be brought under reasonable control".

While local army officers at the cantonment in Pathankot refused to disclose any details, officials from India's Northern Army Command HQ confirmed that nearly 500 tonnes of heavy ammunition was destroyed.

According to them, an open ammunition store comprising 125 millimetre tank ammunition, 155-millimetre howitzer shells, and related military hardware was lost.

Supplies for Kashmir

A preliminary assessment has put the estimated loss at more than $3m.

Most of this was a part of the ammunition supplies for Indian troops deployed along the northern frontier, and military formations in Indian-administered Kashmir.

A formal military inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident.

Military analysts say that fires will continue to be a potential hazard in Indian Army ammunition dumps, where rising summer temperatures have been known to heat up explosives stored in the open.

According to them, obsolete and unstable ammunition stored at such dumps is at great risk of spontaneous combustion.