Blasts were heard kilometers away

Pulgaon fire: People initially thought it was an earthquake

The calm of the night at Pulgaon was shattered as a series of explosions shook the ground and shattered window panes. 

It took some time for the people of Pulgaon and neighbouring villages to find out what exactly has happened.

Some of them came out of their houses to find flames lighting up the skies over the Central Ordnance Depot (CAD), the largest ammunition depot of the country.

The explosions could be heard in a 30-km radius of the CAD, reports reaching Mumbai said.

Immediately after the series of explosion, Wardha District Collector Shailesh Nawal swung into action and evacuated people from three villages located in the vicinity of the CAD.

“News of fire at CAD, Pulgaon is very unfortunate and disturbing. Spoke to Wardha collector and took stock of the situation,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted.

“Window panes of several houses were shattered, the doors weakened at the hinges and some huts in villages developed cracks,” a Maharashtra the police official said.

Eyewitnesses said that they initially thought that it was an earthquake when the first explosions were heard, but later realised that they were bomb explosions.

“The night sky was red and yellow and appeared like a fireball,” said some of the locals.