No emergency announcement was made when fire engulfed Uphaar cinema during the screening of Hindi blockbuster Border on June 13, 1997, an eye-witness told a city court on Monday. There was no gatekeeper, no torchman, no emergency announcement and no emergency light, Rishi Arora, who lost his sister in the fire, said while deposing before additional sessions judge Mamta Sehgal. Arora, who had gone to watch the movie along with his sister Monika, said that when we reached there the movie had already started. The lights went off before the interval. After the interval there was a song. After the song I felt some gases in the rear stall, lights went off and there was pitch dark. My sister and I tried to come out of balcony but were not able to come out, he said recalling the horrifying experience. Somehow we reached near the canteen...There was a lot of smoke due to which we were not able to breathe....At that time my sister fell unconscious on the ground.., Arora, a resident of Safdarjung Enclave, told the court.
He said that even the fire brigrade stair-case was too hot to take advantage of. I fell down from that stair-case and became unconscious, he said adding, that I gained consciousness only to know that I had lost my sister.
Bureau Report