Baltimore judge awards $3.25M for injuries from bonfire explosion at Hindu festival

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A Baltimore judge last week awarded a $3.25 million judgment to the victims of a bonfire accident at a Hindu holiday festival two years ago.

On a windy evening in January 2024, members of Baltimore’s Hindu community gathered at a South Baltimore temple to celebrate a harvest holiday that included a bonfire. Heavy wind made it difficult to keep the fire going, so the temple’s founder added gasoline — which also blew onto some of the attendees. The fire exploded, with many attendees standing only about 6 feet away.

At the time, a man who lived nearby told WJZ that he had been startled by a loud “boom” and that smoke and debris came in through his window.

Seven people were injured. A 3-year-old sustained life-altering burns. Her parents’ hands were burned as they tried to put the fire out.

“Her face was literally on fire when (her parents) turned around,” said Gloria Worch, of counsel at the Baltimore firm Schochor, Staton, Goldberg & Cardea, who represented the plaintiffs. “It burned off her skin.”

Four burn victims and one of their spouses sued the Shri Radha Govind Pashupatinath Temple, founder and President Srivash Das, and Vice President Sunder Govind Das in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

In October, judgment was entered in favor of the plaintiffs after the defendants failed to participate in discovery or appear for a deposition, in violation of a court order.

“We won before we set foot in the courtroom,” Worch said.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Dana Middleton held a two-day bench trial last week to determine the damages and ultimately awarded the plaintiffs a total of $3,250,479. The verdict was against Sunder Govind Das and the temple.

Srivash Das, who lacked liability insurance, filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy, preventing — at least for now — civil claims against him. Earlier this month, a judge rejected his proposed plan but allowed him to prepare another. He will be required to pay some amount to the plaintiffs.

Members of the temple contributed $4,860 to a GoFundMe page that described the addition of gasoline as a “very big mistake.” The page was created because Srivash Das “cares about the devotees and the people that got hurt that night and would like to help with the best treatment for them.”

The defendants briefly had a lawyer in 2025, but he withdrew from the case, and the defendants did not have representation thereafter.

A call to the temple was not returned. Srivash Das did not immediately answer a Facebook message, and his bankruptcy lawyer, Robert Grossbart, did not answer a call Thursday afternoon.

The injured child turns 6 next month. She was awarded most of the damages, just under $2.5 million. Of that, $1.5 million was for noneconomic damages and is subject to a cap of $935,000, Worch said. The rest was for past and future medical care.

The child has severe scarring on her hands and face, has undergone several surgeries, and will receive treatment indefinitely.

“This little girl was really through the ringer,” Worch said. “She’s had a dreadful course.”