Body of Contractor Killed in APG Explosion To Be Flown Back to His Native India

As the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives continues investigating the explosion at Aberdeen Proving Ground last Saturday that killed contractor Dr. Nanaj Bhamare, a friend of the worker has told Patch that Bhamare's body will be flown back to India for burial.

Bhamare came to America in the late 1980s and devoted much of his career to working with chemical reactions, said a family friend who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“He started working at APG a couple of months ago,” the friend said. “He does not have any family here. All his family is in India.”

The friend said Bhamare's body would be flown back to India on Monday for a burial in his native country.

Meanwhile, Clare A. Weber, a representative from the ATF field office in Baltimore, said her agency is awaiting the results of a chemistry analysis from ATF's National Laboratory Center.

“The ATF provides supplemental expertise to our state, local, and military partners because we have highly trained and educated 'certified explosives specialists,'" Weber said.

The ATF utilizes the National Laboratory Center in Beltsville, where forensic chemists and experts can analyze the debris to determine the presence of any chemicals or explosive substances or materials, Weber said.

“They also requested our assistance due to the complexity of the explosives, fire scene,” Weber said of APG. “In addition to the explosion, then subsequent fire, the scene contained chem, bio-hazards as well as bloodborne pathogens, which ATF has better capabilities to handle.”

Weber said additional details about the explosion, which occurred in the Edgewood area of the base, would be made public as they become available.

But according to APG officials, one thing is clear: no radioactive materials were involved.