Part of the hall collapses

India: Dozens killed in amusement park fire

(Bild: kameraOne (Screenshot))

At least 27 people died in a devastating fire at an amusement park in western India at the weekend. According to the police on Sunday, at least four children are among the dead.

Two people - allegedly the owner and the manager of the amusement park - have been arrested in the investigation into the cause of the fire. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his shock at the disaster in Rajkot in his home state of Gujarat. "My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The fire in the two-storey building, where leisure activities such as bowling and trampolining were offered, broke out on Saturday evening. According to the fire department, there were more than 300 people in the center at the time.

According to the fire department, there were more than 300 people in the center when the fire broke out.

(Bild: kameraOne (Screenshot))

Part of the hall collapsed
Many people had difficulty getting out of the burning building because a temporary area near the entrance had collapsed, the fire department added. The fire spread quickly due to flammable material and part of the hall collapsed, it said.

Survivors reported in Indian media that they had kicked open doors and jumped out of windows to get outside. "We tried to escape through a back door, but that didn't work," one survivor told The Indian Express Newspaper. "I saw a ray of light from outside, kicked down the metal sheet and five of us jumped out of the second floor."

Bodies burnt beyond recognition
A police spokesman confirmed the deaths of 27 people. The four children who died were under the age of twelve, the spokesman said. The bodies had been burnt beyond recognition, making them difficult to identify. A statement from the local authorities said that the police were trying to identify the dead using DNA traces from the site of the fire.