Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said there was no sabotage involved in the fire at the central ammunition depot at Pulgaon in the district but the exact cause would be known only after inquiry.
“We are not ruling out any possibility but there is no sabotage as such,” he told reporters in Maharashtra.
Mr Parrikar said that blaze was contained with prompt help from all the concerned authorities and only a complete inquiry will unveil its cause.
It is too early to speculate about the cause, he added.
Mr Parrikar paid a visit to Datta Meghe Medical College and Hospital at Sawangi Meghe in the district to meet the injured. He said 130 tonnes of anti-tank mines were demolished in the blaze.
However, the 16 persons who perished while trying to extinguish it succeeded in saving the ammunition stockpiled in nine other sheds, the minister said.
Mr Parrikar was accompanied by the Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag. They spent more than half an hour meeting the injured at the hospital.
At least 16 defence personnel, including two Army officers, were killed in the inferno that broke out at one of Asia’s biggest ammunition depot in Pulgaon which harboured the largest store of weapons in the country.
The fire which broke out at 1 AM at one of the sheds that housed “highly sensitive ammunition” in the high security central ammunition depot (CAD), spread over 7,000 acres and was later completely doused. The situation though required an extensice overnight operation to be brought under control.
Tags: Manohar Parrikar Pulgaon Union Defence Minister Wardha
