HYDERABAD, 24 February 2006 — Three Indian Navy sailors were killed and 17 were injured by a blast on board a ship in the Bay of Bengal, police said on yesterday. Unconfirmed reports said the explosion and subsequent fire happened as a missile was being dumped at sea, a routine procedure for redundant missiles and explosives. “We do not know the exact details about the fire. We are liaising with the eastern naval command on the cause of fire,” said P.S.K. Kaumudi, police commissioner of the eastern city of Vishakapatnam, said. The country’s first indigenously built landing ship, INS Magar, was returning to base on Wednesday after participating in a national fleet review when the accident happened, 39 nautical miles off the Indian coast. Kaumudi said 10 of the injured had received severe burns and their condition was critical.
