French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his condolences on Monday after a devastating fire in Rajkot’s TRP game zone resulted in the deaths of 28 individuals, including four children. Macron conveyed his heartfelt solidarity with the victims’ families in a message posted on X (formerly Twitter) in Hindi, stating, “I share the grief of the people of India over the death of nearly thirty people, including children, in a fire in a game zone. My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims. Full solidarity.”
The tragic fire broke out on Saturday evening in the Nana-Mava area of Rajkot city. Local officials confirmed that 28 lives were lost and three people were injured in the incident. Indian leaders, including President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge, expressed their sorrow and extended condolences to the affected families.
On Sunday, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited the site of the tragedy and met with the victims’ families. The central government announced an ex gratia payment of ₹2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for each deceased person’s family, while injured individuals will receive ₹50,000. The Gujarat government also declared an ex gratia amount of ₹4 lakh for the families of the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured.
In the aftermath of the fire, authorities arrested the owner-partner of the TRP game zone and its manager on charges of culpable homicide. Investigations revealed that the facility was operating without the necessary fire safety clearances. Despite having some fire safety equipment, the measures were inadequate to control the blaze, leading to the tragic loss of life.
This incident has highlighted the critical need for stringent enforcement of fire safety regulations to prevent such disasters in the future.
