According to the authorities 54 people, mostly teenage girls and two policemen were crushed to death on Sunday night when over two thousand people gathered at the annual beer festival rushed to a nearby underground metro station to seek refuge from a sudden hailstorm, 150 were injured.

All the 54 dead, have been identified by their relative and are to be buried today with full state honours at the expense of the government, the spokesman told PTI over phone.

The Belarus capital is in shock, a day after the worst ever tragedy in the peacetime history of this small republic. A two-day state mourning has been declared in the country and the local TV channels have cancelled all the entertainment programmes.

Belarus flags withblack ribbons could be seen on government buildings as well private residences. Hundreds of youth gathered at the ill-fated underground crossing with flowers and lit candles in mark of the memory of their friends.