At least 45 people were charred to death and over a hundred injured in a devastating fire that tore through a consumer electronic goods fair at a park here this evening. The toll is likely to go up with unofficial reports putting the figure much higher.

The fire at the Brand India fair at the Victoria Park, suspected to have been caused by a short circuit, broke out at a stall around 5.30 pm when the place was teeming with hundreds of visitors.

Fire soon engulfed the entire area, turning the park into an inferno. Bodies charred beyond recognition lay scattered as firefighters with the help of locals and police battled flames.

Black smoke billowed as people scrambled for cover. DIG R K Vishwakarma, who was supervising rescue operations, said at least 45 people had died in the blaze.

The injured were admitted to various hospitals. With bodies badly burnt, anxious relatives and friends were searching for their kin at the site and in the hospitals.

The fire broke out barely two hours before the four-day fair was to end. This was the first fair of its kind in Meerut where the stalls were all fully air-conditioned. But as the fire burnt down the stalls, it became clear that the safety drill had not been followed.

Meerut district officials said the main reason for the tragedy was that the fair venue had just one entry-exit gate. “That too was so narrow that at most two people could get out at one time,” DIG Vishwakarma told The Indian Express. Most of the dead and injured appeared to be victims of a stampede, he said.

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