Experiment gone wrong: 7 injured in balloon blast
Vijay Upadhyay
Agra. In one of the worst military disasters that has taken place in Agra in the past few years, seven employees of the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) were seriously burnt when an experimental balloon-shaped surveillance craft filled with hydrogen gas exploded on the ground on Monday near the Keetham lake on the town's outskirts.
A part of the forest around the site was also charred in the incident. The injured have been admitted to a local hospital where they are undergoing treatment.
According to the ADRDE officials, which is governed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), had a research facility near Keetham lake where experiments in aerial reconnaissance were being done using hydrogen filed balloons.
Hydrogen is highly unstable and inflammable and that is why this facility is located outside the inhabited area.
On Monday, a team of ADRDE scientists and workers were conducting experiments, after which the balloon was pulled down to the launch platform, when the hydrogen in the balloon caught fire and within a few seconds led to the explosion, injuring seven ADRDE employees, one of whom is in a critical.
The fire was later put out by two fire engines called from the Agra Airforce base. Luckily, it did not spread to the hydrogen gas storage facility located nearby, which could have increased the magnitude of this incident by several folds.
According to the ADRDE officials, the balloon project was part of an extremely important chain of experiments in aerial surveillance and was used to conduct high-altitude surveys of the area surrounding the balloon at upto 7 km. radius using high-resolution cameras. The project was in its advanced stage.
Terming the incident as that of a "moderate" nature, they said that ever since the ADRDE was established in 1965, this was the first such incident of an explosion in a balloon.
Agra. In one of the worst military disasters that has taken place in Agra in the past few years, seven employees of the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) were seriously burnt when an experimental balloon-shaped surveillance craft filled with hydrogen gas exploded on the ground on Monday near the Keetham lake on the town's outskirts.
A part of the forest around the site was also charred in the incident. The injured have been admitted to a local hospital where they are undergoing treatment.
According to the ADRDE officials, which is governed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), had a research facility near Keetham lake where experiments in aerial reconnaissance were being done using hydrogen filed balloons.
Hydrogen is highly unstable and inflammable and that is why this facility is located outside the inhabited area.
On Monday, a team of ADRDE scientists and workers were conducting experiments, after which the balloon was pulled down to the launch platform, when the hydrogen in the balloon caught fire and within a few seconds led to the explosion, injuring seven ADRDE employees, one of whom is in a critical.
The fire was later put out by two fire engines called from the Agra Airforce base. Luckily, it did not spread to the hydrogen gas storage facility located nearby, which could have increased the magnitude of this incident by several folds.
According to the ADRDE officials, the balloon project was part of an extremely important chain of experiments in aerial surveillance and was used to conduct high-altitude surveys of the area surrounding the balloon at upto 7 km. radius using high-resolution cameras. The project was in its advanced stage.
Terming the incident as that of a "moderate" nature, they said that ever since the ADRDE was established in 1965, this was the first such incident of an explosion in a balloon.
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