The Uphaar Cinema fire, one of the worst fire tragedies in recent Indian history, occurred on Friday, June 13, 1997 at Uphaar Cinema, Green Park, Delhi, during the premiere screening of the movie, Border. Trapped inside, 59 people died, mostly due to suffocation, and 103 were seriously injured in the resulting stampede.
The victims of the tragedy and the families of the deceased later formed 'The Association of Victims of Uphaar Fire Tragedy' (AVUT), which filed the landmark Civil compensation case. It won Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million) compensation for the relatives and families of the victims in the case, now considered a breakthrough in civil compensation law in India. However the Supreme Court on 13/10/2011, nearly halved the sum of compensation awarded to them by the Delhi high court and slashed punitive damages to be paid by cinema owners Ansal brothers from Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 25 lakh.
Today they meet at every anniversary at 'Smriti Upavan' memorial, outside the hall, where a prayer meeting is held.
Read more about Uphaar Cinema Fire: The Fire Incident, Precursor To The Incident, The Investigation and Trial, Civil Compensation Case, Evidence Tampering Case, The Verdict, Post Verdict, Aftermath
Famous quotes containing the words cinema and/or fire:
“I rather think the cinema will die. Look at the energy being exerted to revive it—yesterday it was color, today three dimensions. I don’t give it forty years more. Witness the decline of conversation. Only the Irish have remained incomparable conversationalists, maybe because technical progress has passed them by.”
—Orson Welles (1915–1984)
“These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)