‘Accidental’ explosion kills two soldiers dead at Rajasthan’s Mahajan Field Firing Range

Two soldiers were accidentally killed and one injured in Bikaner’s Mahajan Field Firing Range while loading ammunition in a tank during a training exercise Wednesday, officials said. This is the second fatal incident in the range this week.

“Three soldiers were practising with the tank around 10 am Wednesday when an explosion took place, killing two and injuring one,” Circle Officer Lunkaransar (Bikaner) Narendra Kumar Poonia said. “Ashutosh Mishra was the tank commander, Jitendra was the gunner, and Ishwar Talia was the driver. They were loading a round in the tank when the explosion took place, killing Ashutosh and Jitendra, and injuring Ishwar,” he said.

The injured soldier was referred to Chandigarh and flown there in a helicopter, the CO said. While Ashutosh was from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh, Jitendra was from Dausa in Rajasthan and Ishwar from Odisha.

On Sunday, gunner Chandra Prakash Patel, a native of Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, died when he was hooking a gun with the gun towing vehicle when the vehicle lost traction and slipped backwards, injuring Patel. He was rushed to the field hospital but succumbed to his injuries.