The death toll in the massive fire that swept through a gaming zone in Gujarat’s Rajkot city last rose to 27, officials said.
Police have detained the owner of the TRP Game Zone and the manager while the state government assigned the probe to a Special Investigation Team.
“So far we have confirmed the death of 27 persons in the fire incident. The bodies are charred beyond recognition and hence their identification is difficult,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Radhika Bharai.
ACP Vinayak Patel said the deceased included at least four children under the age of 12.
The death toll is likely to increase further and relief operations are going on, district officials said.
According to eyewitnesses, several people, including children, were playing at the gaming zone, located on Nana-Mava Road, when the tragedy struck.
Police said the owner and manager of the game zone were detained and taken to the police station for questioning amidst reports that the structure did not have no-objection clearance by the local civic body.
The government has handed over the investigation of the incident to a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Additional Director General of Police Subhash Trivedi.
President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident.
