india

Updated: Apr 05, 2019 13:05 IST

Two soldiers were killed and half a dozen others were injured in a freak fire accident at the Indian Army’s Bercha field firing range at Mhow near Indore on Thursday afternoon.

“Two Army soldiers were killed in a fire at the Bercha firing range at Mhow near Indore. The fire was caused due to sparks from the guns during firing practice,” Army officials said, adding that a full inquiry would take place. Mhow is around 215 km west of Bhopal.

Apparently, sparks flew out from the guns during practice gunfire setting on fire the dry grass that was being used as cover. All the soldiers were wearing ghillie suits and two jawans were quickly engulfed in flames. Their comrades rushed to save them and also got burnt.

Ghillie suits are camouflage suits designed to resemble the background environment and help the soldiers blend in, making them difficult to spot.

The Badgonda police station incharge Arun Solanki said the bodies of the two deceased soldiers - Ranjeet Singh, (27) from Rajasthan, and Akshay Kumar (25) from Kangra, Himachal Pradesh - were brought to Mhow Civil Hospital for autopsies. The six injured soldiers have been flown to the Research & Referral (RR) Hospital in New Delhi.