Fire at camp in Maha Kumbh Mela, spreads to dozen nearby camps

A fire broke out at the ISKCON camp in Mahakumbh Nagar on Friday and quickly spread to over a dozen nearby camps, officials said.

No casualties have been reported.

Chief Fire Officer Pramod Sharma told PTI, "Upon receiving information about the fire at the ISKCON camp in Sector 18, fire tenders were immediately dispatched. The fire has been fully contained."

The fire spread to over a dozen nearby camps, causing significant damage.

Officials said the cause of the fire and the damage incurred were being ascertained, officials said.

DIG (Maha Kumbh) Vaibhav Krishna said the fire incident had "completely been controlled".

"There is no one injured in it," he posted on X.

This is the third time that a fire has been reported in the Kumbh Mela area.

On January 19, a fire broke out in the Maha Kumbh Mela area's Sector 19 due to a cylinder blast. While no casualties were reported, the blaze had left over a dozen camps gutted.

On January 25, two cars caught fire in Sector 2 of the Maha Kumbh fair area, but no casualties were reported. Short-circuit in one car led to the fire which then spread to the other vehicle parked next to it, according to officials.

The Maha Kumbh, which started on January 13, will continue till February 26.