CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ THRISSUR l Sunday l may 26, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l city edition Kids among 22 killed in Rajkot blaze Dilip singh kshatriya @ Ahmedabad At least 22 people, including children, were killed in a massive fire at a gaming zone in Gujarat’s Rajkot city on Saturday police said. , When the fire broke out, over 30 children and their parents were believed to be trapped inside TRP game zone on Kalavad Road in the city ac, cording to eyewitnesses. The source of the blaze was an explosion in the air conditioning unit possibly triggered by a short circuit, they said. “So far we have confirmed the death of 22 people in the fire incident. The bodies are completely charred and it is difficult to identify them,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Vinayak Patel. Police Commissioner Raju Bhargav said, “I cannot confirm the cause of the fire; it requires probe.” Rajkot Collector Prabhav Joshi said the Fire Control Room received a call around 4.30 pm regarding the blaze. The fire safety personnel were facing difficulty in dousing it as it was a windy day a Rajkot , Fire Officer said. Besides, a temporary structure inside the gaming zone collapsed, compounding the difficulty in the rescue effort, the fire official added. Following the accident, the local administration asked all gaming zones in the city to cease operations. They plan to conduct a fire safety audit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief at the loss of lives and said the administration is working to provide assistance to those affected. Gujarat govt orders Fire safety audit The TRP game zone in Rajkot on fire | X Bodies charred beyond recognition ■ ■ “The fire caused the collapse of the structure. Debris is being cleared,” Rajkot Collector Prabhav Joshi said Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel said a Special Investigation Team will probe the fire accident. The state government announced an ex-gratia of J4 lakh for the dead and J50,000 for injured people Following the tragedy, the Gujarat government directed all gaming zones across the state to cease operations. Comprehensive inspections, encompassing fire safety equipment and protocol, will be conducted at all game zones. Likewise, the Maharashtra Congress demanded that its state government conduct a fire safety audit of gaming zones and malls Kangana sweats it out against royal scion H a r p r ee t B a j w a @ Mandi (From left) President Droupadi Murmu, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Union minister S Jaishankar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi show their inked fingers after casting ballots in the sixth and penultimate phase of the general elections, in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI 60% turnout in crucial sixth phase Loads of VIPs exercise franchise in delhi Anantnag-Rajouri seat record P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Crime branch to probe ‘bar bribery’ clip; UDF ups ante E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram The crime branch on Saturday formed a special team to investigate Excise Minister M B Rajesh’s complaint alleging conspiracy behind the bar bribery accusations against the government, even as the UDF termed the entire exercise inadequate and demanded a judicial probe into the charges. Reiterating its demand for Rajesh’s resignation, the Opposition also called for the ouster of Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas, alleging attempts were being made to protect him. Crime branch DySP Binu Kumar is heading the team, which will conduct a preliminary investigation under the supervision of crime branch SP (Thiruvananthapuram unit) Madhusoodhanan. The government has asked the police to wrap up the probe before the assembly session on June 10. Rajesh filed a complaint with the state police chief on Friday after an audio clip of a bar owner soliciting funds for tweaking the proposed liquor policy was circulated on social media. Besides a probe into the conspiracy, Rajesh sought scrutiny of the clip and the “contradictions” it contained. “Since no crime has been established, only a preliminary probe will be carried out at this stage,” said a source with the police. The team is planning to interrogate Animon, who is purportedly behind the clip that was circulated in a WhatsApp group of members of the Federation of Kerala Hotels Association ● More on P6 from Idukki. WITH THIS ISSUE We Are the World PLUS 12 PAGES OVER 60% voter turnout was recorded for the sixth and penultimate phase of the Lok Sabha elections held on Saturday As many as 58 seats across . eight states and Union Territories (UTs), including all 10 seats of Haryana and seven of Delhi, voted in this round of polling. Several politicians and prominent personalities, including President Droupadi Murmu, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Union minister S Jaishankar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, cast their votes in the national capital. Following the pattern of Mumbai, Delhi too registered a low turnout of 55.85% despite the Election Commission of India urging the voters to shun the apathy and exercise their voting rights. Stakes are high for the BJP-led NDA as it won 40 seats out of the 58 in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Though the other INDIA bloc partners won five seats in 2019, the Congress scored a duck. The contest in Delhi and Haryana is crucial for the Opposition parties as they hope to increase the tally in these states. The contest in the national capital is being keenly watched as the INDIA bloc parties — the Congress and the AAP are taking on the BJP. While the BJP swept all seven seats of Delhi in 2014 and 2019 and is looking for a hat-trick, the Opposition is fighting tooth and nail. The AAP is contesting four seats while the Congress has fielded candidates in three seats as per their seat-sharing agreement. express read Motivational speaker’s tirade at biz conclave goes viral Kozhikode: A business conclave organised by Rotary International Kozhikode turned controversial as a training session led by motivational speaker Anil Balachandran was stopped midway owing to heated words between him and the participants. The organisers alleged Anil verbally abused the participants, leading to a clash | P6 Yellow alert in 4 dists, heavy rain to continue till May 31 T’Puram: Heavy rain is expected to continue in the state until May 31, with the IMD issuing yellow alert for Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam districts on Sunday. As per the IMD’s predictions, the southwest monsoon is expected to arrive in Kerala by the end of this month | P5 While the BJP won all 10 seats in Haryana in 2019, the Congress is hoping to make a dent this time due to factors such as anti-incumbency and the anger among the farmers and wrestlers against the BJP. Voting was also held on 14 seats of UP eight seats each of Bihar , and West Bengal, six in Odisha, four in Jharkhand and one in J&K. While Bengal recorded the highest turnout at 78.20%, that for the J&K’s AnantnagRajouri stood at 52.92%, its highest in 40 years. UP’s turnout was 54.03% and Haryana 59.28%, according to the EC’s voter turnout app at 9.45 pm. Among the most watched duels this poll season is the one at Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi where Bollywood ‘Queen’ Kangana Ranaut is cutting her electoral teeth on behalf of the BJP against Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress. It’s like an open air theater where an ebullient but inexperience candidate is sweating it out against a seasoned neta. Kangana’s glam quotient is high but so is her tendency for loose talk by straying off the script, making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The party is lear ning to manage the impulsive actor and trying keep her away from harm’s way . Her opponent is a pedigreed minister in the Sukhvinder Singh ‘Sukhu’ government, as he is a scion of the erstwhile Rampur royal family . The son of late six-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh, he was the face of intraparty rebellion in the state till Sonia Gandhi personally requested him to enter the fray. That gave him an opportunity to prove his leadership credentials. Continued on: P5 Kangana Ranaut(R) and Vikramaditya Singh Illustration: Mandar Pardikar
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