Gujarat amusement park fire leaves 27 dead

May 27, 2024 00:00:00

Officials clear remains at the site of a fire accident on the following day of the disaster, at an amusement park facility in Rajkot, on Sunday — AFP

AHMEDABAD, May 26 (AFP): Four young children were among 27 people killed when a fire in India ripped through a crowded amusement park, a top local official said Sunday, as rescuers scoured the site the morning after the blaze.

Survivors reported having to kick down doors and leap out of windows to escape the inferno that swept through a centre packed full of young people enjoying games including bowling, Indian media reported on Sunday.

Lines of bodies draped in white cloths were laid out before being taken away from the centre in Rajkot, a city in the western state of Gujarat.

The four children reported dead were all aged under 12, said police, who warned that many of the corpses were so badly burned it was difficult to identify them.

Outside the still-smouldering wreckage, the mother and sister of 20-year-old Asha Kathad-who had worked in the centre-waited for news.

They held up a photograph of Asha on a mobile phone. "We don't have any information about her," Asha's mother told local reporters, too distraught to give her full name as she wept.

More than 300 people were enjoying the summer holiday weekend in the two-storey structure at the TRP amusement and theme park when the blaze broke out on Saturday evening, Rajkot fire officer Ilesh Kher told reporters on the night of the fire.

"People got trapped as a temporary structure at the facility collapsed near the entrance, making it difficult for the people to come out," he said. The flames spread rapidly because of the structure's flammable material, he added.

Fires are common in India due to poor building practices, overcrowding and a lack of adherence to safety regulations.

Also on Saturday night, a fire in India's capital ripped through a newborn baby hospital, killing six infants, with passersby charging into the burning building to pull out the other newborns from the ward.

Speaking at the site of the amusement park fire, top local government official Prabhav Joshi confirmed to AFP that the number killed had risen on Sunday morning to 27.