Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Two more Navymen die in INS Magar fire

Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM: The toll in the fire that broke out in INS Magar -- the naval war ship on February 22 -- 39 nautical miles off Visakhapatnam coast -- increased to five with two more persons succumbing to the burns.

While Sundar Singh was reported dead on Saturday, Hanuman Singh succumbed to the injuries on Friday. Both of them belonged to Himachal Pradesh. Condition of three more naval personnel, admitted to naval hospital INSH Kalyani, is stated to be critical.

ACP (north) C. Ranga Reddy told reporters on Saturday that they had registered an FIR on receipt of the report from the naval authorities. He said they had also collected samples for forensic tests. To a question, he said they were studying whether they could go ahead with the investigation.

"It happened somewhere in the mid-sea. We want to ascertain our competence before going ahead with further investigation,'' he said.

The Navy has already ordered a Board of Inquiry after fire broke out while dumping expired explosives-laden containers into the sea.

It engulfed part of the ship in one of the four containers after dumping 220 into the sea. Three crew members were charred to death.

The fire spread to the remaining containers.

Harbour CI T.M.S. Prakash is investigating.

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