Rajkot Fire : After Gujarat govt, PM Modi announces ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for kin of fire incident victims

After a massive fire broke out at an indoor game zone in Gujarat’s Rajkot city late Saturday, the death toll stands at 27 with about nine people injured. 

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to families of those who died in the incident and Rs 50,000 to those injured. 

 Earlier in the day, the Gujarat government also announced compensation of Rs 4 lakh to victims’ families. 

Reacting to the mishap on Saturday, PM Modi said he was “extremely distressed” and that he was in touch with CM Bhupendra Patel regarding the rescue operation efforts.

Meanwhile, a special bench of the Gujarat High Court on Sunday took suo motu cognisance of the fire incident and termed it a “man made disaster”. 

An FIR was registered against six persons, including TRP amusement park’s owner and manager for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. 

Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the incident will submit a primary report in 3 days followed by a final report after 10 days.

The rescue operations were underway at the spot for over six hours after the blaze erupted at a structure built using metal and fibre sheets for gaming activities.

Rajkot district collector Prabhav Joshi said that some bodies have been charred beyond recognition and DNA samples of bodies of victims, and their kin were flown to a lab in Gandhinagar for identification. 

According to officials, the blaze erupted due to a short-circuit.

Officials have also confirmed that the two-storey building did not have a fire clearance or an application for a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the TRP amusement