Two soldiers were killed and one injured in Bikaner’s Mahajan field firing range while loading ammunition in a tank during a training exercise on Wednesday, a defence spokesperson said.

The charger exploded while the soldiers were loading the ammunition, he said.

“Two Army soldiers have died in the incident and one is injured,” he said.

Local police officials rushed to the spot as soon as information about the blast came in.

“There were three soldiers who were practising with the tank. Ashutosh Mishra and Jitendra died in the explosion. The injured soldier has been taken to Chandigarh in a helicopter,” Circle Officer Lunkaransar (Bikaner) Narendra Kumar Poonia said.