A major fire broke out at the Mahakumbh in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on Sunday. There was no immediate news of any casualties. The fire broke out in Sector 19 of Mahakumbh Tent City. The police said it was caused by an explosion of cooking cylinders. Kumbh Mela chief fire officer Pramod Sharma said 15 fire tenders were put into service to contain the blaze that engulfed 18 tents.
Prayagraj district magistrate Ravindra Kumar told ANI that the fire broke out at around 4.30pm in the tent of Gita press. “…There is no information of any casualty. The situation is under control,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath took cognizance of the fire incident. He also visited the site of the fire and spoke to officials and firefighting teams on the spot.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke to Adityanath and inquired about the fire at Mahakumbh, according to sources.
Uttar Pradesh minister AK Sharma told ANI that the fire was brought under control within 20 minutes.
“There has been no loss of lives in the incident and for that, I thank Ma Ganga, Triveni and Lete Hanuman ji. Our police team and NDRF are at the spot,” he said.
In a post on X, the Samajwadi Party also expressed its grief over the incident and asked the government to run relief and rescue operations at a fast pace.
“The party expresses sorrow over the incident and prays for the safety of all devotees. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure security, control the fire, and prevent such incidents in the future,” Samajwadi Party spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chaand told PTI. “The party believes the incident is tragic and urges the government to provide necessary facilities for the devotees at the Kumbh.”
