Rajkot fire that killed 28 may have been caused by welding sparks, piles of inflammable material: Official

Rajkot Collector Prabhav Joshi told The Indian Express that CCTV footage revealed welding work that was underway on the gaming zone’s first floor, below which piles of inflammable material were stored.

“Piles of foam sheets, plastic mattresses and thermocol were stored along with other material used in such types of temporary structures. So it appears that some flame from the welding work fell on the material that led to the fire,” Joshi said.

On Saturday, the official had said that the fire appeared to have been caused by a short-circuit due to the load on the wiring from several air-conditioners.

The gaming zone, set up under a shed, was operational for nearly three years with no permission or clearance, authorities have said. Police have booked six people for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, including owner Yuvrajsinh Solanki, who was arrested Sunday. The facility’s manager, Nitin Jain, was also arrested said Rajkot City Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava.

Joshi said highly inflammable liquids like petrol and diesel, for go-karts and generators, may have been stored on the site. “That is one of the theories that can not be ruled out since there might be a buffer stock for go-karting. But since we could not find any proof of containers in which these might have been stored, we cannot be certain.”

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Bhikhabhai Theba, who was one of the first rescuers to reach the spot, said the fire was so swift and severe that the victims could not escape. “The fire spread so quickly that several people did not get any chance to run out. Their bodies were badly charred,” Theba told The Indian Express.

The Collector said the government has decided to send samples from the bodies to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Gandhinagar for DNA testing due to the nature of the burn injuries.

An air ambulance carrying the DNA samples landed at Gandhinagar at around 4 am on Sunday. Officials have also collected samples from family members.

“Despite some identification evidence on the bodies, like rings and bangles, the government decided on DNA analysis for scientific identification so that there is no mistake in handing over the bodies,” said the Rajkot Collector. Some of the hard tissue samples are estimated to take around 36-48 hours to be identified.

A special investigation team has been set up to look into the fire and submit a preliminary report by Tuesday. The Gujarat government has directed officials to carry out inspections at all gaming zones, which have been shut following the incident and will remain closed until corrective action, if necessary, is taken.

The incident came at a time the Gujarat government is in the process of regulating amusement parks. It is expected to come out with policy decisions in the near future.

Unregulated, questions on safety

Several amusement centres spring up in cities in Gujarat during vacations. Like Rajkot’s TRP, many of them are unregulated and operate out of temporary installations. Ahmedabad alone has 16 of them. The Gujarat government, which was in the process of bringing out regulations for amusement parks, is now carrying out a safety audit of such centres. The High Court, too, has taken note of the incident.