Haryana: Massive fire at Kingdom of Dreams in Gurugram, no casualties
Gurugram, July 15
A massive fire broke out at the abandoned Kingdom of Dreams in Gurugram's Sector 29 on Wednesday. At least five fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the blaze.
According to Fire Officer Naresh Kumar, there were no casualties as the iconic facility has been shut down for a while now. The structure, the fire officer said, was reduced to a "heap of scrap."
The cause of the fire is not known yet.
Fire Officer Naresh Kumar told ANI, "Our office is located right behind this building, less than half a kilometre away, which is how we noticed the smoke rising. There was a massive column of smoke originating from the thermocol installed at the front of the structure. I immediately dispatched five or six of our vehicles all at once. We do not know the cause of the fire yet, as the facility has been shut down for quite some time. A fire had broken out here once before, which also occurred during the night. No, there were no casualties. The place was empty and closed down; it is entirely reduced to a heap of scrap."
Further details are awaited.
Earlier on Tuesday night, a massive fire broke out at a warehouse in the Jhund Sarai area of Gurugram. Fire Officer Narender Singh said, "No casualties have been reported so far."
— ANI
Reader Comments
Glad there were no casualties. But the repeated fires in Gurugram, including the warehouse one, really show our fire safety systems need upgrading. Two separate incidents in two days? That's concerning.
Kingdom of Dreams was such an iconic place when it opened - a one-stop for India's performing arts. But after it closed, it became an abandoned structure. The lack of maintenance and security might have contributed to this. Someone should look into who was responsible for the site.
Respect to the fire department for quick action - noticing the smoke from just half a kilometre away and immediately dispatching multiple vehicles. This could have been much worse if the place was still operational. Also, this is the second fire in two days in Gurugram - definitely a pattern worth investigating.
Such a shame. I remember going for a school trip there in 2017 - the laser shows, the food court with cuisines from across India, it was magical. What a waste of a prime location. The government should repurpose such spaces for community use rather than letting them rot and burn.
Looking at this practically - thermocol catches fire very easily, and in our Indian summers, spontaneous combustion is possible. But the real issue is why such a prominent site was left abandoned for so long. No security, no maintenance, and we get incidents like this. Could have been MUCH worse if someone was squatting there.
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