Fire mars yagam organised by CM K Chandrasekhar Rao on last day
Pandal catches fire even as President copter was about to land.
Hyderabad: A fire broke out at one of the pandals of the Ayutha Chandi Maha Yagam organised by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at Erravalli village in Medak on Sunday afternoon.
Just 10 minutes after the fire broke out, the helicopter carrying President Pranab Mukherjee hovered over the burning pandal and returned without landing. The President was forced to cancel his visit to the yagam due to the mishap.
Thousands of people including some VIPs were moved to a safe distance as the blaze turned the main pandal into ashes. Four fire tenders, which were stationed at the spot, extinguished the fire in less than half an hour.
AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Union minister of state Y. Sujana Chowdary had left the yagam just 90 minutes before the fire started. The incident took place when the Chief Minister, many VIP guests, 1,500 ritwiks and several devotees were having lunch at an adjacent dining area.
Panic spread among hundreds of devotees who were lined up to take darshan of the holy fire. However, police officials present at the spot swung into action and brought the situation under control. “There were no casualties in the incident. People moved away as quickly as possible and all of them were at a safe distance when the fire spread. There was no stampede,” a senior police official from Medak said.