By IANS
Srinagar : Two militant outfits have claimed responsibility for the massive ongoing blaze at an Indian army ordnance depot in south Kashmir that injured 35 people including soldiers, though the army says the fire was caused by an accident. Authorities have evacuated 30,000 villagers living around the depot.
As ammunition stored in the Khundroo Field Ordnance Depot (FOD) – 67 km from here – continued to explode and shrapnel rained over surrounding villages even hours after the fire started, a senior officer in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district said, “We have safely evacuated more than 30,000 villagers from 18 villages around the ordnance depot.”
He said adequate lodging arrangements had been made in the Anantnag town where tents have been erected in various educational institutions for the villagers who fled their homes in panic after the heavily guarded depot caught fire following a string of explosions this morning.
Spokesmen of Hizbul Mujahideen and Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen militant outfits called Srinagar based news agencies claiming they had blasted the depot.
The Jamiat spokesman claimed that their commander Tufail Afgani was leading the operation. Afghani has been “awarded” Rs.500,000 for the “successful mission”, he told Urdu news agencies here.
However, defence spokesman Lt. Col. V.K. Mathur has denied the guerrilla claims, saying the fire was accidental and was being investigated.
The army has also evacuated its personnel and family members from inside the camp area. The depot is located inside a heavily guarded army camp.
“Massive efforts are continuing to control the blaze,” Mathur said.
The injured include some villagers and fire fighting personnel. They were taken to hospital.
The explosions and fire led to panic in the villages. “There was a big bang followed by a series of blasts. We ran into our homes,” a local resident, Abdul Rashid, said over telephone.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has asked the civil administration and army authorities to ensure that the situation was put under control soon and evacuated population provided adequate shelter and food.
The chief minister sent senior ministers Abdul Aziz Zargar and Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed along with the divisional commissioner and inspector general of police to monitor the situation and oversee evacuation and lodging arrangements.
“Chief minister got in touch with senior army and civil administration officers to ascertain details about the extent of the incident and welfare of the people within and outside the depot,” a state government spokesman here said.
The chief minister asked the administration to ensure that people did not go near the depot.