ALLAHABAD: A major fire broke out at the Digambar Akhara campus in Sector 16 at the Kumbh Mela venue on Monday afternoon, a day before the first shahi snan scheduled to be held on the occassion of Makar Sankranti on Tuesday.Though, the police claimed that no one was hurt in the incident, two vehicles, six small tents, documents and other articles were reduced to ashes.SP (akhara security) Ashutosh Mishra told TOI that, "Gas leakage and blast in LPG cylinder during the meal preparation caused the fire at around 12.35pm. A probe is being conducted by the Mela police and authorities were assessing the loss due to the fire."The SP claimed that three fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot and the fire was controlled before it could spread to other tents. Four trapped seers were rescued, he added.The police also found that a number of LPG cylinders, dry wood and hay was stored inside the camp. Remains of more than two small LPG cylinders were also recovered from the spot.Mishra said that no chaos were reported in the incident and fire department managed to douse the flames on time.SSP (Kumbh) KP Singh said the Mela police had appealed to akharas and organisations camping on the Mela campus to take necessary precautions while preparing meals and appealed to the organisers not to prepare meals inside tents.Meanwhile, Girijesh Das Maharaj of Digambar Akhara, who was camping at the same akhara, claimed, "the fire was triggered by a cylinder blast and properties worth thousands of rupees were gutted." Two seers were also injured in the incident, he added.UP Congress leader Mukund Tiwari has demanded a high-level probe into the incident. He also accused the mela authorities of not taking corrective measures to ensure protection of devotees at Kumbh despite being termed as ‘Divya Kumbh – Bhavya Kumbh’ by the state government.

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