Varanasi, Aug 17:
A passenger’s licensed pistol went off “accidentally” during a security screening at the Varanasi airport on Sunday morning, leaving two personnel injured, officials said.
Both screening personnel, one injured in the leg and the other in the thumb, were shifted to the New Lakshmi Trauma Centre here and were undergoing treatment, they said.
The passenger has been detained for investigation, the civil aviation ministry said.
The incident occurred at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at around 9.30 am, when the passenger, who was scheduled to fly to Mumbai on an Air India Express flight, declared a licensed firearm (7.62 mm pistol with 21 live cartridges) at the check-in counter under the prescribed procedure and was escorted to the designated screening area for completion of the mandatory security formalities, according to the ministry.
“During the handling and inspection of the weapon, a round was accidentally discharged. The projectile ricocheted and caused injuries to two screening personnel, Rohit Raj and Suman Kumari,” it said.