Three persons were injured, including two women, in a mysterious blast in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district on Monday. The incident took place around 8:15pm when some farmers were burning crop residue in the field in Khara Madhana village.
Following the incident, the three injured people were rushed to the Government Medical College and Hospital in Jammu. Out of the three, two people are reportedly in a serious condition, news agency PTI reported.
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The injured have been identified as Rameet Singh (66), Simro Devi (76) and Suriya Bibi (58) – all local residents of the Samba district.
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According to the police, it is suspected that a rusted mortar shell which was lying in the field exploded after the farmer set their fields on fire as part of their farming practice.
The police and forensic experts have recovered a piece of the rusted mortar shell.
Further details are awaited.
In another incident last week, at least one person was killed, and six others were injured in a blast at an explosives manufacturing factory in Chhattisgarh’s Bemetara district. The incident took place in the unit located near Pirda village in the Berla development block.
According to the police, another eight people working in the factory are still missing.
“There were some body parts which were recovered from the debris at the blast site as bodies were blown into pieces in the explosion. Now, DNA examination will be done to identify them,” the police said on Monday.
Eyewitnesses told local news channels that at least 100 people were working in the explosives manufacturing factory when the blast took place.
Meanwhile, the factory management has been instructed to provide compensation of ₹10 lakh each to the kin of the eight missing workers and an immediate cheque of ₹5 lakh each. The state government also announced financial assistance of ₹5 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased and ₹50,000 each for the injured.