Three Naval personnel were killed and 19 were injured in a major fire that broke out on INS Magar, the Navy's largest landing ship, as it was dumping live expired missiles off Vishakhapatnam coast into the Bay of Bengal.
A Navy spokesman said the fire, which broke out near the engine of the warship, was controlled by Coast Guard and Naval ships after battling for over an hour and a half.
The warship was reaching the end of operations to dump explosives when one of the remaining four to five missile boxes went off.
The injured sailors have been rushed to Naval hospital in Kalyani where condition of three was stated to be serious.
The Navy spokesman said the three personnel killed were yet to be identified and a Board of Inquiry has been instituted to probe the cause of fire.
The extent of the damage of the warship, which used for landing troops in sea-borne assault, was being ascertained.
The major Naval tragedy has occurred weeks after Navy conducted its first ever Presidential Fleet Review in the east coast off Vizag.
{{/usCountry}}The major Naval tragedy has occurred weeks after Navy conducted its first ever Presidential Fleet Review in the east coast off Vizag.
{{/usCountry}}INS Magar is one of the ships that had participated in the Presidential Fleet Review.