LUCKNOW: A fire broke out at the Mahakumbh Mela premises on Friday, engulfing around 16 to 18 tents of an ISKCON camp in Sector 18. However, fire officials confirmed that no casualties or injuries were reported.
The fire broke out in a tent at the ISKCON camp in Sector 18, Shankaracharya Marg, Mahakumbh Mela Kshetra.
According to Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Pramod Sharma, upon receiving information about the fire, fire tenders were immediately dispatched and doused the flames in a short span of time.
“The fire was fully contained," he said.
As per Mela sources, the fire broke out in the camp of Hariharanand due to a short circuit and spread rapidly to nearby tents due to high-speed winds sweeping the Mela premises.
Consequently, thick clouds of smoke enveloped the Mela area, causing panic among nearby Akharas.
As soon as the firemen reached the site, they removed the crowd and cordoned off the entire area.
“We could control the flames within 40 minutes,” said the CFO, adding that there were no casualties or injuries. However, the fire spread to over a dozen nearby camps, causing significant damage, PTI reported.
Inspector Yogesh Chaturvedi of Khak Chowk police station said that the police team assisted firefighters in controlling the blaze.
Officials said the real cause of the fire and the extent of the damage were being ascertained.
DIG, Mahakumbh, Vaibhav Krishna, said the fire incident had been “completely controlled” by the fire brigades.
“There is no one injured in it,” the DIG posted on X.
This was the third fire incident at Mahakumbh in the last 20 days. Previously, fire incidents were reported in Sector 22 and Sector 19.
On January 30, a fire in Sector 22 gutted multiple tents but caused no casualties or injuries. Earlier, a major fire had broken out in Sector 19 near Shastri Bridge, engulfing around 180 tents and reducing them to ashes. The fire was triggered by a gas cylinder leak and explosion, leading to multiple blasts.
SP City Sarvesh Kumar Mishra stated on Friday that the fire spread rapidly to many tents due to the presence of curtains in the pandals. However, the probe to ascertain the reason was on.