The Uphaar Cinema fire, one of the worst fire tragedies in recent Indian history, occurred on Friday, June 13, 1997 at Uphaar Cinema, Green Park, Delhi, during the premiere screening of Border, a patriotic Hindi movie. 59 people died and 103 were seriously injured in the subsequent stampede; most of the victims were trapped on the balcony and were asphyxiated as they tried to reach dimly marked exits to escape the smoke and fire, and found the do...
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The Uphaar Cinema fire, one of the worst fire tragedies in recent Indian history, occurred on Friday, June 13, 1997 at Uphaar Cinema, Green Park, Delhi, during the premiere screening of Border, a patriotic Hindi movie. 59 people died and 103 were seriously injured in the subsequent stampede; most of the victims were trapped on the balcony and were asphyxiated as they tried to reach dimly marked exits to escape the smoke and fire, and found the doors locked.
The fire broke out at 5:10 pm, after the transformer at the parking level burst, and 20 cars in the parking lot caught fire, eventually leading to a large scale fire in the five-storey building which housed the cinema hall and several offices. The cinema hall was situated in one of the busiest areas of South Delhi and the fire services were delayed owing to the heavy evening traffic. At least 48 fire tenders were pressed into service at 5.20 p.m. and it took them over an hour to put out the fire. Later the dead and the injured were...
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