At least 24 people have been killed, most of them children, when a fire broke out at an amusement park arcade in India, officials said.
Footage posted on social media, which AFP was not able to immediately verify, showed a fire engulfing a structure, with black smoke billowing into the sky.
More than 300 people were in the two-storey structure at the TRP amusement and theme park when the blaze broke out as it was a summer holiday weekend, Rajkot fire officer Ilesh Kher told reporters. Gujarat is the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who posted on X:"Extremely distressed by the fire mishap in Rajkot. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones.It took nearly an hour to extinguish the fire, with about a dozen ambulances carrying the injured to hospital.
Fires are common in India due to poor building practices, overcrowding and a lack of adherence to safety regulations.
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