Fairground destruction
Four trucks, 75 stalls go up in smoke as a major fire broke out at the exhibition grounds in Kukatpally
The Kukatpally Exhibition in front of Metro shopping mall caught fire in the early hours of the morning. The fire’s sparking point was located at the rear end of the exhibition and westerly winds fanned it as it engulfed the whole venue, burning down four trucks and a number of stalls. No one was injured. Workers and owners of the stalls had a lucky escape but the exhibition organiser, by name Bujji, is said to have suffered a heart-stroke and was immediately hospitalised.
Savithri who worked at the booking counter said, “We saw the fire at 7:30 in the morning. Within minutes, the entire venue was ablaze and we had a lucky escape. All our money and possessions have been burnt and we are still too shocked by the entire episode to think rationally.”
Vasu, another worker at the venue says, “As of now, even we are not aware of how this happened. Some believe that it was a huge garbage pile that was set to fire by the sweepers but it is still not proven.”
Syed Ahmed, a stall owner at the exhibition said, “We did not know of the fire until friends called us up and informed us of this. I have been a stall owner at various fairs and exhibitions even the Numaish at Nampally and I have never been so affected by a disaster such as this. All our money, our business is gone. We do not know what to do now.”
Four fire trucks were pressed into service, to douse the raging flames. The fire consumed most of the exhibition and caused extensive damage. On hearing the news, the owner and in-charge of the entire exhibition, Bujji was shell shocked and suffered a cardiac arrest. He was taken away to a nearby hospital.
ACP Malla Reddy reached the spot at 9:30am and immediately issued orders for cleaning and clearing the venue of bystanders and onlookers.Despite the catastrophe, the venue had not been cleared of a huge array of gas cylinders that were left unguarded.
A precautionary ambulance was not seen at the venue. The disaster stalled traffic movement because of the huge presence of onlookers and vehicles that clogged the traffic.
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