Overview
- Roughly 200 guests escaped after flames spread through the Aura Garden venue and into the adjoining Sekhon Banquet Hall.
- Firefighters from Zirakpur and Panchkula brought the blaze under control in about an hour, deploying eight tenders as a cylinder blast was reported during operations.
- Police said evacuations were completed soon after the fire broke out around 10:30 pm on Saturday on the Zirakpur–Shimla Road near the Panchkula border.
- The chief fire officer cited preliminary possibilities of cooking arrangements or an electrical short as the source, with the exact cause yet to be determined.
- An eyewitness reported that stray fireworks may have ignited flammable décor, and Mohali district authorities sought a detailed report on safety clearances.