Nine people were killed and 31 injured when a cache of confiscated explosives blew up at Nowgam Police Station in Indian Kashmir, the region's police chief said on Saturday, days after a car blast in New Delhi killed a dozen people.
The dead at Nowgam included policemen, government officials and forensic officers who were examining the cache, Nalin Prabhat, director general of police for the federally administered region of Jammu and Kashmir, told a news conference.
He said the cause of the explosion on Friday and the extent of the damage were under investigation, but that an accident was likely.
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Debris of Nowgam Police Station, 75km south of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. Nine officers were killed as a cache of explosives blew up during an inspection. Reuters -
Indian paramilitary soldiers arrive at Nowgam Police Station after an accidental explosion. Authorities said no 'militant suspicion' was attached to the deaths of nine people - officers and civilians - and injuries to nearly three dozen people. EPA -
Relatives of the deceased at a wreath-laying ceremony for the victims of an explosion in Nowgam, Indian controlled Kashmir, on November 15. AP -
Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir and a member of India's ruling BJP, pays tribute during a wreath laying ceremony for the deceased in an accidental blast at Nowgam Police Station, south of Srinagar. AFP -
Relatives of Mohammad Shafi Parry, a civilian worker who died in an accidental explosion at Nowgam Police Station, wait for his body at his home on the outskirts of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. EPA -
Indian security forces arrive near the site of an explosion inside a police station in Nowgam, south of Srinagar. Reuters -
Indian security forces stand at a barricade near the site of an explosion inside a police station near Srinagar, Indian Kashmir. Reuters -
Indian policemen patrol near Nowgam Police Station. EPA -
An ambulance leaves the site of an explosion inside a police station in Nowgam, Indian-controlled Kashmir. AP -
Relatives of the victims who died in an accidental blast at Nowgam Police Station await the release of bodies of the deceased. AFP -
Members of the State Disaster Response Force near the site of an explosion inside a police station at Nowgam, where nine people were killed. AP -
Indian paramilitary soldiers on guard near Nowgam Police Station. Sources said the cache of explosives was seized from Faridabad in connection to a terrorism case. EPA
Indicating there was no militant involvement, Mr Prabhat said forensic and chemical examinations of recovered explosive materials were under way when there was “an accidental explosion”.
“Any other speculation into the cause of this incident is unnecessary,” he said.
The identification of the bodies was under way, but some have been burnt beyond immediate physical recognition, Reuters reported, citing a police source.
“The intensity of the blast was such that some body parts were recovered from nearby houses, around 100-200 metres away from the police station,” the source said.
Earlier, a local police official told Reuters an explosion had ripped through Nowgam police station, about 75km south of Srinagar. The official said fire had engulfed the compound and fire engines hurried to the station.
The blast occurred four days after a deadly car explosion in the Indian capital New Delhi killed at least a dozen people in what the government has called a terrorist incident.
Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan have for decades fought periodic wars over the disputed region of Kashmir, which they both claim in full and rule only in part.
