AHMEDABAD/GANDHINAGAR: The SIT probing the Rajkot fire tragedy has listed out the grave lapses by TRP Game Zone promoters that led to 28 people getting roasted alive in the recreational facility on May 25.
Preliminary findings in SIT’s report accessed by TOI suggest that instead of having separate entry and exit gates, there was just one narrow passage for visitors to enter with no mandatory emergency exit as per the specifications defined under the National Building Code and fire safety rules.
Probe also revealed that welding work, being carried out for the construction of a proposed snow park inside, prima facie led to the blaze. The operators ignored the fact that the gaming zone had a lot of highly inflammable material. Besides, the place where the welding was being done had foam and tyres, which are highly combustible.
SIT chief Subhash Trivedi told mediapersons in Gandhinagar that 30 litres of petrol was stored in the gaming zone, much more than the permissible limits. “Action will be taken against those responsible under the Petroleum Act,” he said.
There was a metal ladder placed in a narrow space of 4-5 feet between a restaurant and the proposed snow park to reach the first floor, which housed a bowling facility and a trampoline park. As the fire spread through the structure, it was impossible to reach the first floor or get down.
That the owners were indifferent to the safety of visitors is evident from the revelation that the sole fire hydrant system installed inside had no water connection, thus rendering it useless in case of a blaze.
Preliminary findings in SIT’s report accessed by TOI suggest that instead of having separate entry and exit gates, there was just one narrow passage for visitors to enter with no mandatory emergency exit as per the specifications defined under the National Building Code and fire safety rules.
Probe also revealed that welding work, being carried out for the construction of a proposed snow park inside, prima facie led to the blaze. The operators ignored the fact that the gaming zone had a lot of highly inflammable material. Besides, the place where the welding was being done had foam and tyres, which are highly combustible.
SIT chief Subhash Trivedi told mediapersons in Gandhinagar that 30 litres of petrol was stored in the gaming zone, much more than the permissible limits. “Action will be taken against those responsible under the Petroleum Act,” he said.
There was a metal ladder placed in a narrow space of 4-5 feet between a restaurant and the proposed snow park to reach the first floor, which housed a bowling facility and a trampoline park. As the fire spread through the structure, it was impossible to reach the first floor or get down.
That the owners were indifferent to the safety of visitors is evident from the revelation that the sole fire hydrant system installed inside had no water connection, thus rendering it useless in case of a blaze.