LONDON: A fire broke out at a Hindu community centre in east London’s Ilford on Saturday night, completely gutting the building. No one was injured.The devotees were in a Ganesh Chaturthi procession, and nobody was inside Shree Sorathia Prajapati Community Centre on Cleveland Road when the blaze erupted, thus avoiding a major tragedy.Flames reduced the centre — used by UK-based Hindus belonging to a community of potters from Gujarat’s Sorath region — to ashes. The roof collapsed, and the interiors, believed to have contained idols of deities, were completely charred. Neighbouring homes had to be evacuated.A police patrolling team first noticed the fire around 8pm. We don’t know what caused it, but around 8pm, there was a blast from within.
