Siwan Pandal Fire, Rasulpur: Five Children Among 10 Injured During Play; Cause Under Investigation

Updated 21 October 2026, after Amar Ujala’s 3.37 p.m. IST update. This story is developing: the cause, the injured count and any FIR may change.

What happened

On the night of Tuesday, 20 October 2026, a fire broke out on a stage during a play at a Durga Puja and Dussehra gathering in Rasulpur village, under Barharia police station, Siwan district, Bihar. Siwan Superintendent of Police Bharat Soni told PTI that ten people, including five children, were injured, and that five children with serious burns were referred to Patna for better treatment. Several outlets describe the event as a Ramlila performance at a Durga Puja pandal; Lalluram and Voice of Bihar say the play being staged was Raja Harishchandra. We have not seen any report of a death.

Time: PTI and Amar Ujala say “evening”. Lalluram, quoting eyewitnesses, says about 10.30 p.m. We use “the night of 20 October” and flag the difference. Tarun Mitra calls it “Wednesday night”, which cannot be right because that article was published on the morning of 21 October.

We are not naming any of the injured. Lalluram and another outlet have published names and a child’s age, but none of that is needed to understand what went wrong.

What the reports say about the cause

No official finding has been published. PTI, Amar Ujala and Voice of Bihar do not state a cause. The other outlets give different accounts, so please read them as reports, not conclusions.

• Petrol-filled pots at a pyre scene. Lalluram reports that the Harishchandra play was to show a funeral-pyre scene, and clay pots filled with petrol had been kept for it. Fire suddenly flared in them. With a curtain hung on the stage, the audience did not see what was happening behind it. Lalluram says the fire reached the upper part of the tent and a burning curtain fell on a child sitting below, after which people ran in panic.
• A performer’s fire stunt. Tarun Mitra and a Deshaj Times headline say a performer was doing a fire stunt with petrol, caught fire and, trying to save himself, threw the petrol towards the crowd.
• A balloon with a flammable substance. IANS (via Social News XYZ) and Livecities report that a balloon holding a “suspected flammable” or chemical substance burst during a fire scene and the substance fell on spectators sitting near the stage. IANS adds that police found this in a preliminary inquiry and that a forensic team has been called to test samples.
• A “fire box”. News4nation, in an early report, says a box used for fire effects burst.

These may be different descriptions of the same fire effect, or some may be wrong. What the accounts share is a live-fire effect with a flammable liquid or substance on a stage, close to a seated crowd. Which version is correct is for the police and the forensic report to say.

Injured, hospitals and the count

The only figure attributed to a named officer, the SP via PTI, is 10 injured including five children. Lalluram and Tarun Mitra say 12 or about a dozen; News4nation, early in the morning, said about six. We use 10 as the headline and mention 12 where local outlets use it.

The injured were first taken to the Barharia community health centre (Lalluram, Tarun Mitra), then to Sadar Hospital, Siwan. Voice of Bihar says a special medical team was formed on the District Magistrate’s direction. PTI says five children with serious burns were referred to Patna. Lalluram says four people, including a six-year-old, were in a very serious condition, yet also says five were sent to Patna, so its own numbers differ. Tarun Mitra and Deshaj Times say four were referred to PMCH, Patna. The two reports we started from, in Hindustan Times and Live Hindustan, are headlined with about 10 to 11 injured and five referred to PMCH; our tools could not open those two pages, so we have not relied on them. We have not found any report on the condition of the children in Patna after the night of 20 October.

Police and administration

The SDPO (Sadar-I) and the Barharia SHO reached the spot. A special police team led by the SDPO (Sadar-I) was formed on the SP’s direction, and a Forensic Science Laboratory team was called (PTI, Amar Ujala, Voice of Bihar). PTI says police are recording the organisers’ statements and that further legal action is under way. IANS quotes an official saying an FIR will be registered on the basis of the victims’ statements and the findings of the inquiry. We found no report that an FIR has actually been registered, no arrest and no announcement of compensation.

Lalluram, in a single report, adds things that are not in the PTI or Amar Ujala versions: that a preliminary inquiry found the puja committee had taken no permission for the play, and that no fire-fighting equipment was at the spot. It also quotes the SP as saying the children were wearing polyester clothes, which is why they were burnt more badly. We could not confirm these in a second outlet, so please treat them as unconfirmed.

About our sources. PTI (carried by ThePrint) and Amar Ujala are the main reports and quote the SP. IANS, Lalluram, Tarun Mitra, Voice of Bihar, Livecities and News4nation add detail but differ from each other. We found no police press release and no official statement on the cause. Hindustan Times and Live Hindustan could not be opened by our tools. We found no video of the incident that we could verify, so none is shown.

Why this matters

Festival stages in villages and small towns use curtains, tents, bamboo, paint and synthetic costumes, and the audience, often with many children, sits on the ground right next to the stage. Add a flammable liquid for a fire effect and one flare-up has nowhere to go but into the crowd. Burns in children are serious, and synthetic cloth that melts and clings to skin can make an injury worse. The incident came in Dussehra week, when we have already seen other festival fires, crushes and immersion accidents; our Dussehra fairs and immersion safety guide covers the wider picture, and our guide to pandals, melas and festival crowds covers crowd flow.

We have covered other festival-season incidents, such as the Chorbagan pandal stampede in Kolkata, and a Bihar fire that burnt children, the Gopalganj LPG leak fire. The hazards differ, but the questions about preparation, exits and first response are the same.

Lessons for organisers

These are general safety practices, not findings about what went wrong in Rasulpur, which is still unknown.

• No open flame or flammable liquid in a stage effect. Never keep petrol, kerosene, spirit or similar liquids on or near a stage, and never use them for a fire scene. Use a pyre scene lit by red cloth and a fan, or LED lighting. If a real flame is unavoidable, only a trained person should handle it, well away from curtains, tent cloth and the audience.
• Keep the audience back. Fireworks or any fire effect need a clear gap between the stage and the first row, a barrier, and no children in the front rows.
• Choose fire-retardant cloth and decorations. Curtains, backdrops, tent cloth and decorations should be treated or fire-retardant material, not loose synthetic cloth, paper or dry bamboo hanging over the stage. Costumes close to a flame should be cotton or treated fabric, because polyester and other synthetics melt and stick to skin.
• Keep extinguishers and water ready. Place suitable extinguishers near the stage and the exits, along with buckets of water or sand, and a fire blanket for smothering flames on a person. Make sure volunteers know how to use them; see our guide to using a fire blanket.
• Plan exits and crowd flow. Keep several wide, clear exits, do not block aisles, and have someone with a microphone who can calmly tell people to move. A stage curtain can hide a fire from the audience, so keep a spotter backstage.
• Get permission and tell the authorities. Ask the police and the local administration what permission an event needs, and inform the nearest fire station and hospital of the date. Fire-safety requirements for temporary structures and gatherings differ by state and by the size of the event, so ask the local fire department; we have not verified a single rule that applies here.
• Have a first-aid and ambulance plan. Keep a first-aid kit and a trained volunteer on site, and save the phone numbers below.
• Emergency numbers for Bihar. 112 is the national emergency number, 101 is the fire service, and 108 is the national ambulance number; the ambulance service can vary by state, so also save the nearest government hospital’s number.

First aid for burns on a person, including a child

This is general first aid in line with NHS guidance; it does not replace training or a doctor. Our basic first aid guide has more, and the firecracker safety guide and festival fire safety guide add festival-specific advice.

• Move the person away from the fire. If clothes are burning, smother the flames with a fire blanket or heavy cotton cloth, or make the person stop, drop and roll. Do not let them run.
• Call 108 or 112 at once for any child with a burn, a large or deep burn, a burn on the face, or if a chemical or fuel is involved.
• Once the person is safe, cool the burn with cool running water for 20 minutes, as soon as possible. If there is no running water, use cool bottled water or a wet towel. Do not use ice.
• Remove clothing and jewellery near the burn, but leave anything stuck to the skin. Cloth that has melted onto the skin should be left for the hospital.
• Cover the burn loosely with cling film or a clean, non-fluffy cloth. Do not apply creams, oils, butter or toothpaste and do not burst blisters.
• Keep the person warm and calm and watch their breathing until help arrives.

What is still not known

The cause of the fire; whether the injured count is 10, 12 or more; which children are at which Patna hospital and how they are doing; whether an FIR has been registered and who is named in it; whether the event had permission and fire equipment, as one report claims; and whether any compensation has been announced. This is a developing story and we will update this page when the police, the administration or the hospitals release a statement.