by Pankaj Yadav
NEW DELHI, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in Saturday's massive fire in India's western state of Gujarat rose to 24. Among the dead were at least nine children, confirmed a local fire department official.
Besides, an unspecified number of people were injured in the mishap that occurred at an entertainment park "TRP Game Zone" in Gujarat's Rajkot district on Saturday afternoon.
According to the fire department official, fire-fighting work was almost over. Now a search operation was being carried out to bring out dead bodies, if any.
The cause of the fire could not be known yet. Most of the deaths occurred after a temporary structure on fire collapsed over them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sadness over the fire tragedy. "The fire tragedy in Rajkot has saddened us all. In my telephone conversation with him a short while ago, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel told me about the efforts are underway to ensure all possible assistance is provided to those who have been affected," Modi posted on X.
The state's chief minister announced a monetary compensation of 400,000 Indian Rupees (around 4,816 U.S. dollars) to the families of each of the deceased, and 50,000 Indian Rupees (around 602 dollars) to each injured person. ■