Meerut (U. P.), Nov 8 : At least five persons have been killed and two injured on Saturday in an explosion in an army waste dump in Ahmednagar area of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

“Some ragpickers found an army mortar shell in the scrap and were trying to extract the metal when the blast occurred,” Senior Superintendent of Police Raghuveer Lal said.

He added, “While five persons died on the spot, two were critically injured.”

Lal further said that it was an “accidental” explosion and not related to any terror activists.

According to officials, police will investigate as to how a live shell landed in a garbage heap.

Earlier, Deputy Inspector General of Police P. K. Ramashastri said that the labourers were rummaging through the army waste materials when the blast occurred. (ANI)