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20 killed in landmine blast near border
By Our Staff Correspondent
CHANDIGARH, JAN. 6. Many Army personnel and civilians were killed when a landmine went off accidentally a few km from the International Border, near Mahava village in Amritsar, on Saturday. While no official confirmation was available, eyewitnesses said ``at least 20 persons,'' were killed.
Reports said the area had been cordoned off.The residents of the Mahava and Rajatal villages were panic-stricken. They believed that war had broken out with Pakistan and were digging trenches when reports last came in.
According to them, the incident occurred when a private truck, laden with ammunition, backed into a field, where the Army had laid mines as part of the deployment. Some Army personnel were also engaged in assembling the landmines and laying them.
Another account said the blast occurred when the truck went off the road to make way for the locally-fabricated vehicle, `gharuka.' Some labourers were laying roads nearby.
The flames caused by the blast were at least 50 metres high. Fire-tenders took about two hours to bring the fire under control, while personnel from the Army Engineer Corps were requisitioned to defuse the mines nearby.
The villagers told presspersons that while the Army had laid mines in their fields, it had not educated them on taking precautions. Some claimed blasts were being heard for more than a week now, as dogs, wild boars and stray cattle stepped on the mines.
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