Vijay Hazare Trophy: MS Dhoni, Team Evacuated After Fire Near Hotel
According to reports, the fire broke out at about 6 a.m. on Friday morning, shortly before MS Dhoni's Jharkhand team was supposed to leave for its Vijay Hazare Trophy match with Bengal, to be played at the Palam Ground.
- Posted by Jaideep Ghosh
- Updated: March 18, 2017 01:33 pm IST
Highlights
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Players escaped unhurt after a fire broke out at a hotel in Dwarka
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Mahendra Singh Dhoni is captain of the Jharkhand side
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Jharkhand were scheduled to play Bengal on Friday
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his Jharkhand teammates were evacuated safely after a fire broke out near their hotel in Dwarka in New Delhi on Friday morning.
According to reports, a fire broke out at about 6 a.m. on Friday morning, shortly before the team was supposed to leave for its Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final match with Bengal, to be played at the Air Force ground in Palam.
However the match has been postponed till Saturday since the team's clothes and equipment were left in the hotel when they left.
The match has now been rescheduled at Ferozeshah Kotla on Saturday after match referee Sanjay Verma announced the postponement.
Dhoni and his teammates were having breakfast at the team hotel when they were evacuated. Around 540 guests were staying at the hotel, according to police sources.
"Yes, it was scary as a fire broke out early in the morning. We were evacuated and brought to the ground," Jharkhand coach Rajeev Kumar said.
Both teams were at the ground but since the Jharkhand players were also mentally disturbed, the BCCI had to give them a day's time to get into a proper frame of mind.
"When we were having breakfast at the restaurant...suffocating smell of the smoke alarmed us. We ran for our lives," a Jharkhand player told PTI.
"A call was received around 6.30 a.m. about a fire breaking out. Thirty fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the fire was doused by 9.45 a.m. Cooling operations are on," said a senior official from Delhi Fire Services.
"A fire broke out in the shopping mall, adjacent to the hotel. In keeping with our safety and security guidelines, as a precautionary measure, we evacuated all our guests. There were no casualties recorded at the hotel," confirmed the official spokesperson of the hotel.
Police said that the fire broke out in a showroom. Further investigation is underway to ascertain the cause of the fire.
(With PTI Inputs)