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| Blaze put off, 2 more dead | | CM makes aerial survey of South Kashmir | | Jammu/Srinagar, Aug 12: With alteast two more people, including a women, having lost their lives in the devastating fire, the Kundroo ammunition depot blaze was putt off late this evening, reports said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today made an aerial survey of the villages affected by yesterday's explosions even as the evacuated population has been advised against rushing back to their homes in the face of the possibility of unexploded ammunition that might have landed in the surrounding villages.
reports said that two more persons, including a woman, were killed on Sunday by shrapnel from explosions at the ordnance depot in Anantnag district even as firefighters "controlled" the blaze and villagers returned to their homes outside a 1.5-km radius of the camp.
The toll in the fire and blasts at Field Ordnance Depot at Khundroo in the south Kashmir district has now risen to four. The woman, identified as Jameela, was killed when she and other villagers ignored the warning of the authorities and left for her house in the close vicinity of the army camp, Deputy Inspector-General of Police H K Lohia said.
He said the fire had been controlled and most people had left for their homes after the intensity of the blasts reduced. Defence spokesman Lt Col A K Mathur said, "The fire has been controlled from spreading but the search parties are moving cautiously to avoid any casualties."
Earlier, the the Chief Minister, accompanied by the Ministers and top officers of the administration and Police, flew over the affected villages to ascertain the extent of damage caused by the eruption of the depot.
Following the aerial survey, the Chief Minister had a high level meeting with senior officers of civil administration, army and police at Khanabal army camp to take stock of the situation. Major General, S. K. Bharadwaj briefed the Chief Minister about the incident. He said people who had been evacuated from the adjacent villages should not make hurry in returning to their homes till these areas were cleared of unexploded ammunition that had flown from the depot following the fire incident. He said until then it was not safe for the people to return to their villages. He said army and the administration would have to satisfy themselves first that the villages had been cleared of such danger before allowing the movement of people back to their homes. He said unexploded ammunition could have landed in agriculture fields and habitations posing danger to human life.
On the instructions of the Chief Minister, it was decided that joint teams of army, police and civil administration would survey the villages to trace unexploded ammunition. The teams would identify the places and report the experts who would defuse the ammunition. The joint teams of army and police would also guard the villages and the property left behind by the villagers before their evacuation to safer places.
The Chief Minister asked the administration to set up at least 20 camps for the evacuated population with adequate arrangements for shelter, food, water and medicines. He told the Divisional Commissioner to arrange additional water tankers and doctors from the adjacent districts and keep the camp sites clean.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has appealed the evacuated people not to rush back to their homes until the experts declared their villages free from any danger. He said the government had made adequate arrangements for their stay in temporary camps and they need not put their lives in danger by hasty return to their homes. He asked them not to touch any suspicious object and immediately report the police or administration if they found one.
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