Fire erupts in DRDO laboratory in Odisha

A fire broke out at a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory in Odisha Monday but no one was injured and there was no damage to facilities, officials said.

The fire at Chandipur, controlled in five hours, prompted the authorities to launch a probe.

"There was no harm to any individual. There has been no damage to the surrounding buildings or facilities," DRDO spokesman Ravi Kumar Gupta told IANS.

The fire erupted around 4 a.m. at the magazine storage area of the Proof and Experimental Establishment at Chandipur in Balasore district, about 230 km from here. People living nearby were evacuated.

A team led by a defence scientist will figure out if there was any chemical reaction or there was any security lapse.

The DRDO laboratory conducts testing and proofing of arms and ammunition manufactured by ordnance factories.

The establishment has a notified range of 50 km in length along the sea coast and 50 km into the sea.

The intensity of the fire was low and that so the roof of the building remained intact, Gupta said.

The affected storage area had some low-intensity ammunition which may have been destroyed, he said, recalling that a similar accident occurred about 15 years ago.

The complex is under two lairs of security.