300 cars parked at Bengaluru air show go up in flames
bengaluru — A fire in the parking lot in front of the Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, where the Aero India show is under way, gutted 300 cars on Saturday, police said. No casualties were reported.
“The blaze is likely to have been caused due to dry grass catching fire aided by high velocity winds,” Director General of Police for Fire and Emergency Services M.N. Reddi said.
The fire, which began at around 12 noon, quickly burnt down the vehicles parked by visitors and public attending the show at the Indian Air Force base in the northern outskirts of the city.
Thick black smoke was billowing in the sky soon after the air display of aircraft which began at 10am came to end. The fire personnel controlled the blaze by creating a gap by removing adjacent cars, Reddi said. “In all, 300 cars were burnt. Fire is fully extinguished now,” Reddi said in a tweet later. The exact reason for the fire, however, could not be ascertained from the officials so far.
Ten 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire. The aerial display of aircraft in the afternoon, between 2pm and 5pm continued according to schedule.
The Aero India show, run by the country’s defence ministry, aims to become one of the world’s premier aerospace events, but has been troubled by accidents this year.
On Tuesday, two Indian Air Force planes collided in mid-air while rehearsing an aerobatic show, killing one pilot and injuring two others. A spokesman for India’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.