ire at Rajkot: “A few staff members tried to put it out by using fire extinguishers, but to no avail,” said Yash Patoliya, a visitor at the gaming zone.
THE FIRE at the Rajkot amusement park/ gaming zone on Saturday spread within seconds, and the narrow gates made escape difficult, said eyewitnesses. “Plywood and other construction material lying in the area caught fire all of a sudden. The fire spread within seconds and sent people running helter-skelter. A few staff members tried to put it out by using fire extinguishers, but to no avail,” said Yash Patoliya, a visitor at the gaming zone.
He said he was sitting in the reception area when the blaze began. “The gaming zone was a two-storey structure. The ground-floor had the reception area, and the floor above that had facilities like trampoline, bowling etc. We tried to go to the upper floor to rescue people, but there was too much smoke,” he said.
Pruthvirajsinh Jadeja, who had come to TRP with two of his friends, said the fire started from the ground-floor. “We were bowling when two staff members told us there was a fire on the ground-floor and we should leave. The area was soon full of smoke… We tried to escape from the rear-door but couldn’t. I saw a beam of light coming from outside. I kicked down the tin sheet and five of us made our way out, jumping from the first floor,” he said, adding that his two friends were still missing.
Jadeja said there were at least 70 to 80 people, including children, on the first floor when the fire broke out. “Some welding work was being carried out on the ground floor, the fire started from there,” he said.
A TRP staff member, who identified himself as Santosh, said that after the fire started, he rushed to his room, also on the premises, to check if his wife and son were safe. “When I reached my room, I found the door was broken… I found my wife and son in the crowd after one-and-a-half hours,” said Santosh, adding that he had been working at the TRP gaming zone for three years now. He said he was in the paintball section when the fire broke out.
