Thousands took the opportunity on Saturday, the first public day of Aero India, to watch what promised to be a spectacular show. By afternoon, many were seen walking in a daze when they realised that their cars had been burnt to cinders when security officials let visitors into the site after 2 p.m. A little over 300 cars parked at the rear end of Gate 5 parking of Aero India – opposite the Yelahanka air force base runway, across the Airport Road – were charred beyond recognition.
The engines had exploded, the paint on them gone off and number plates erased. With no identification marks and only the charred remains to go by, owners struggled to identify their cars. Some scraped the ash and soot to look for markings while others wandered about helplessly.
As security was tight at the air base, many had left belongings in cars. Badri Prasad, who lives in Dubai with his family and had come on holiday to the city, saw his and his relative’s cars catch fire. His passport, identity cards and house keys were inside. He could do nothing to save his car. “But we could save other cars. We started breaking into cars and putting the gears into neutral so that it could be pushed away to safety. All of us must have pushed 25 cars in all,” he said.
Nagaraj , a cab driver who normally sleeps in his car, was saved in the nick of time. But the car, which provides him with livelihood, was lost. “I had just gone towards the canteen in search of food, when the fire started. This is my first car, and I had taken a loan of ₹2 lakh for it. I’ll have to keep paying back my loans, while taking care of my two daughters and wife,” he said.
24/02/19 The Hindu
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The engines had exploded, the paint on them gone off and number plates erased. With no identification marks and only the charred remains to go by, owners struggled to identify their cars. Some scraped the ash and soot to look for markings while others wandered about helplessly.
As security was tight at the air base, many had left belongings in cars. Badri Prasad, who lives in Dubai with his family and had come on holiday to the city, saw his and his relative’s cars catch fire. His passport, identity cards and house keys were inside. He could do nothing to save his car. “But we could save other cars. We started breaking into cars and putting the gears into neutral so that it could be pushed away to safety. All of us must have pushed 25 cars in all,” he said.
Nagaraj , a cab driver who normally sleeps in his car, was saved in the nick of time. But the car, which provides him with livelihood, was lost. “I had just gone towards the canteen in search of food, when the fire started. This is my first car, and I had taken a loan of ₹2 lakh for it. I’ll have to keep paying back my loans, while taking care of my two daughters and wife,” he said.
24/02/19 The Hindu
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