Fire at college playground sparks panic

Varanasi: Panic gripped the Aneyi area under Badagaon police station on Wednesday afternoon after a fire broke out in plastic pipes dumped at the corner of Tulsidas Inter College sports ground.

Station house officer Praveen Singh said firefighters battled the blaze for over two hours, while residents moved to safer spots to escape the suffocating black fumes that spread across the area. He added that the entire zone was cordoned off until the fire was fully extinguished.

Villagers said that UP Jal Nigam had dumped black PVC pipes at the playground of the college. The same pipes caught fire on Wednesday afternoon. Reason behind the fire could not be known while officials were busy assessing the loss.

Flames were first noticed around 1 pm when villagers and Jal Nigam workers ran towards the spot and separated some sections of pipes. They suspected that sparking from the transformer or overhead wire triggered the fire. Thick black smoke emanating from the site was visible from nearly 10 kms.