Spark at Eden causes panic ahead of IPL tie

Kolkata, April 13 (IANS) There was panic at the Eden Gardens following a spark at an outdoor AC unit close to the Press box ahead of the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab on Thursday.

No one was injured and 20 firemen brought the situation under complete control soon.

"Black smoke billowed out from an outdoor AC unit. The firemen acted and used fire extinguishers to douse the fire completely," state fire services minister Sovan Chatterjee told newspersons.

"Since the venue is Eden Gardens where thousands of people are coming to watch the matches, I have asked the Fire Services Director General to come and see that all safety and preventive measures are in place," he added.

Chatterjee, also the city mayor, came to the press box after the incident and took stock of the situation.

"I've seen the entire thing. We will tell the Cricket Association of Bengal to take all remedial steps. We will assist them. There is nothing to panic," he said.

Chatterjee said the fire services director general will carry out an inspection on Thursday as well as Friday and decide on "immediate, interim and permanent measures" to prevent any recurrence of such incidents.

He said steps would be taken on an emergency footing in view of KKR's next match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same venue on Saturday.

The incident took place at around 7:50 PM, some time after the toss.

As the black smokes were seen, some CAB officials rushed to the press box, and asked mediapersons to evacuate the area.

"There has been a fire incident", they said, triggering commotion among journalists, police personnel and other officials.

All air conditioners inside the press box were switched off.

But after about five to ten minutes, the officials said there was nothing to panic, as there was only a spark and no fire.

The air conditioners were switched on after about 15 minutes.