Around 100 cars were gutted in a massive fire at the parking lot of Bengaluru’s Yelahanka Air Force Station, which is hosting the Aero India 2019. A cigarette butt thrown on dry grass of the parking lot is suspected to have led to the fire on Saturday afternoon.
A huge plume of thick black smoke was seen in the sky near Yelahankha air base. According to a policeman present at the venue, one car suddenly caught fire, which spread uncontrollably and took around 80-100 cars in its blaze, resulting in a huge tower of smoke.
According to a Principal Spokesperson, Ministry of Defence’s tweet, all available fire fighting services, Rapid Action Force and NDRF teams were immediately mobilised.
The spokesperson added that a Court of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the fire at the Parking Area of AeroIndia2019 and there was no loss of life or injury.
The parking spot is a few kilometres away from the venue of the air show. A senior police officer MN Reddi, in his tweet, mentioned, “Fire in the open field parking lot of aero show. Nearly 20 cars burnt. Fire fighting operations by Chief Fire Officer and 10 water tenders staff underway (sic).”
However, there is no disruption to the Aero India show due to the fire. A day before the start of the 12th edition of Aero India 2019, two aircraft of the Surya Kiran Aerobatics Team crashed during an air show rehearsal. A pilot of one of the two Hawk aircraft was killed, while two other pilots injured during the air show
