One killed, four injured in Leh blast

One person was killed and four injured in Jammu and Kashmir's Leh town when a shell went off while labourers were collecting scrap, police said Friday.

Five labourers from Jharkhand were collecting scrap Thursday evening from the army's firing range in Leh, 470 km from here, when the shell went off, police told IANS in Srinagar.

"Arjun Singh, son of Surjeet Singh, died on the spot because of this accidental explosion while four people working with the deceased were injured.

"The injured were shifted to a hospital," police said.

Earlier this month, a girl was killed and her brother was critically injured when an explosive device, they were fiddling with, went off. They had brought it home from the forests in Drang village of Budgam district.

The boy was incapacitated for life as doctors trying to save his life had to amputate both his legs.

Locals in Drang village and adjacent areas have been demanding the removal of the army from the Tosamaidan forests, which it has been using as a firing range.