On wee hours of April 17, a fire broke out at Uphaar Cinema Hall in Delhi. So far, no injuries have been reported. As per media reports, the fire has affected the balcony and the floor of the cinema hall. Delhi Fire Service Director Atul Garg, in a statement, said the fire department was informed about the fire at around 4:46 AM. Nine fire tenders were sent to the spot.
A minor #fire broke out inside the #Uphaar cinema in Delhi on Sunday morning. Fire department received a call at 4:46 am and nine fire tenders rushed to the spot. They have doused the fire within two hours.
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) April 17, 2022
📸Special arrangement pic.twitter.com/zd8Xa4lbKe
It took the fire department around two hours to contain the fire. Garg said that the seats, furniture and rubbish in the cinema hall caught fire. It was contained by 7:20 AM.
Uphaar Cinema Tragedy of 1997
On June 13, 1997, a fire broke out during the matinee screening of the movie ‘Border’ at Uphaar cinema, which was located in South Delhi. Due to a lack of proper safety measures, 59 people died of suffocation (asphyxia). Around 100 people were injured in the stampede resulting from the chaos. A month later, the crime branch of Delhi police arrested theatre owner Sushil Ansal and his son Pranav from Mumbai. The case was then transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the Delhi police.
On November 8 last year, a Delhi court sentenced the Ansal brothers, namely, Gopal and Sushil Ansal, to 7 years imprisonment on charges of evidence tampering in the infamous 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case.
The court also imposed a fine of ₹2.25 crores each against the two businessmen. The duo was convicted under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (evidence tampering), and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant). Besides, three others, namely P P Batra, Anoop Singh and Dinesh Chand Sharma, were also held guilty.
