Two persons were killed when a live bomb, which they picked up from a firing range to sell in the scrap market, exploded in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra early on Wednesday morning, police said.

The incident took place around 4 am in Khare Karjune village, located 15 km from the district headquarters, police sub-inspector P S Datale said.

Two villagers, Akshay Navnath Gaikwad (19) and Sandip Bhausaheb Thirode (34), picked up the bomb from a nearby firing range of the Army to sell it in the metal scrap market, he said.

While they were trying to extract metal from it at Gaikwad's home, the bomb exploded, killing both of them on the spot, the official said.

The impact of the blast was so severe that the victims were blown to pieces, he added.