New Delhi, March 17: Former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his Jharkhand teammates had a narrow escape on Friday (March 17) after fire broke out at a hotel in Delhi where they were staying.
Dhoni signs autograph for a crazy fan while batting
The Jharkhand cricketers, who were staying at the hotel at Dwarka's Welcome Hotel Complex, were rescued safely. However, their kits were burnt as the fire in the hotel spread to their rooms.
After the accident, the BCCI has postponed the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final match between Jharkhand and Bengal, which was supposed to be held on Friday, postponed to Saturday (March 18).
"A fire call was received at 6.30 a.m., from Welcome Hotel in Dwarka Sector 10 area, following which 30 fire tenders were rushed to the spot," a fire official was quoted by IANS as saying.
"The flames were doused at 7.50 a.m.," the official added.
MS Dhoni and his teammates were rescued from the hotel and taken to the Palam grounds. Fortunately, all the players are safe and are now focussing towards their game.
Delhi: Fire had broken out in store in Dwarka's Welcome hotel complex. MS Dhoni and Jharkhand team who were staying there evacuated safely pic.twitter.com/AMnRcIEZmt
— ANI (@ANI_news) March 17, 2017
Ishank Jaggi, Jharkhand batsman, was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying,"We were to assemble in the lobby at 730am as we usually do before a game, but at 7, I was asked to stay back in the room by Pratyush Singh as there was lot of fire and smoke at the ground floor lobby."
"It spread quite quickly and when we finally got out of our seventh floor rooms, all we could see around us was smoke. It was so thick that we couldn't even see the far end of the lobby.
"What added to our concern was the fire alarm didn't go off, so we assumed it to be a small fire accident. But when there was a strong burning smell, we were asked to vacate immediately. The seriousness of it struck us only when we got out. The smoke spread to our rooms as well. That is when we were asked to run down the stairs."
Jharkhand defeated Vidarbha by six wickets in their quarter-finals game to set up semi-final clash against Bengal.
OneIndia News