New Delhi: A fire broke out at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj Friday morning in Sector 18 of the mela area—a temporary township spread over 9,900 acres along the river banks.
Chief Fire Officer of the city Rajiv Kumar Pandey told ThePrint that the blaze was being contained. “There are no casualties,” he said.
This comes barely a week after dozens were killed in a stampede that put the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the crosshairs of the Opposition.
Superintendent of Police Sarvesh Kumar Mishra told reporters that the reason behind the fire was still under investigation.
This year’s Maha Kumbh, seen as the most auspicious one in 144 years, saw a major accident on 29 January. Authorities said that 30 people were killed and dozens injured in the pre-dawn stampede, when millions of devotees gathered to take a dip on the most sacred day of the six-week festival.
A huge push caused devotees to fall on each other, while some witnesses blamed the closure of routes to the water, which brought the crowd to a standstill causing people to collapse due to suffocation.
The Uttar Pradesh government has launched an investigation into the stampede, while Opposition parties have blamed the tragedy on the state’s mismanagement, and accused it of hiding the real death toll.
Authorities said they had taken more safety measures after the stampede, including deploying additional security personnel to manage the unprecedented crowds.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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