Bengaluru: In yet another accident that marred the Aero India show this year, about 300 cars were engulfed in a fire at the Yelahankha air base in Bengaluru on Saturday. A grass fire spread to the venue's "parking area number 5," with other vehicles nearby also catching fire. In all, around 300 cars were destroyed in the fire, which has been doused, police sources said.
"The fire has been fully extinguished now. 10 fire force teams and five fire engines fought the fire under the leadership of chief fire officer, west," MN Reddi, Karnataka DGP, said.
An eyewitness, Rahil, said he realised that a fire had broken out after he heard a blast. "There were cars blasting one after another, I could hear crackling sounds. The cars were closely parked so the fire spread within seconds. There were glass shards everywhere and tyres were blasting. I was scared so I ran out and I saw one fire engine come inside."
The firefighters started their operations soon after and the fire could be controlled from spreading further, he added. During its operations, a firefighter from the Channapatna fire station sustained minor injuries.
While the root cause of the fire is still unknown, sources say that a lit cigarette thrown into grass may have possibly ignited the fire. The parking spot is about a few kilometres away from the air show venue.
Despite the massive fire, there were no disruptions on the fourth day of Aero India, which began on February 20.
However, this is the second accident to have taken place at the event this year. During a rehearsal earlier this week, two Indian Air Force planes collided in mid-air, killing one pilot and injuring two others.