Toll in fire accident onboard naval ship rises to four

Visakhapatnam, Feb 23 (UNI) Four sailors were killed and 19 injured, four of them seriously in a fire accident on board INS Magar, a Landing Ship Tanker belonging to Eastern Naval Command (ENC), 39 nautical miles southeast of Visakhapatnam coast last evening.

The fourth victim, also a sailor, died in the naval hospital INHS Kalyani this evening where the injured were admitted. A Board of Enquiry had been ordered to look into the incident.

The ship had set sail from the ENC base yesterday afternoon and the mishap occurred three hours thereafter.

According to ENC sources the fire occurred while the sailors were handling ammunition boxes in the ship resulting in sailors receiving severe chemical burns. Three of them succumbed on the spot.

Admiral Superintendent of Naval Dockyard, Rear Admiral Dilip Deshpande said, ''there might not be much damage to the ship otherwise it could have not sailed back to the naval base smoothly.

We have to look into the incident to assess the damage to the ship,'' he added.

Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command, Vice Admiral Sureesh Mehta, was not available for comment. Media was allowed near NS Magar which sailed back.

However, entry to INHS Kalyani where the injured were being treated was restticted.

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UNI RS VD RAI2107