Sixteen people were killed and 17 injured in a fire at India's largest military ammunition depot in Pulgaon, 115 km from Nagpur, on Tuesday.The fire, first detected at 1.10 am in one of the 10 ammunition sheds of the Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) of the Indian Army, was doused by 6.30 am. Ten fire engines were pressed into service.The deceased include a Lieutenant Colonel and Major, besides 13 personnel of the Defence Fire Services and two guards of the Defence Services Corps. Army sources said that approximately 130 tonnes of anti-tank mines were destroyed."The cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained. The damage is being assessed. An inquiry has been ordered by the Army," director general of military operations, Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, told reporters in New Delhi.The condition of the injured is stable. Army medical teams were moved from Pune to provide specialist care. The injured were evacuated to a multi-speciality hospital at Wardha, 35 km from Pulgaon.dna found a few names of the deceased but decided to withhold them since the Army was still in the process of informing their next of kin at the time of going to press."We have lost our brothers. There is sensitivity involved. We will release all names only after we have informed the families," a senior official at Army headquarters told dna.Sources said that the dead and injured were from the first group of men who responded to the fire. They died while containing the fire in the same shed where it started. Had it not been for them, the fire would have spread to other sheds too, a source said.CAD is spread over 7,000 acres. It stores a variety of ammunition, including AK-47s and BrahMos missiles.Defence minister Manohar Parrikar and Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag visited Pulgaon to asses the situation.

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