Hundreds of protesters clashed with police yesterday, accusing officials of negligence after a fire at a consumer electronics fair in northern India killed at least 52 people and injured dozens.
Residents of Meerut, where the incident occurred late on Monday, chanted slogans against the police and civic authorities, saying they failed to prevent the disaster and deal with its aftermath.
The angry crowds forced Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to cut short his visit to the site. Several hundred people blocked his vehicle, demanding increased compensation and that those responsible for the fire be brought to justice.
"Down with administration, down with police," more than 1,500 people chanted near the disaster site and blocking local leaders from coming near the smouldering remains.
They threw stones, ransacked roadside wooden tea shops and scuffled with police before being caned and chased away.
The state government announced compensation of 200,000 rupees (US$4,500) per person killed and between 25,000 to 50,000 rupees for each injured person.
Police had issued arrest warrants for the organizers of the fair who had disappeared, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
Witnesses described a horrific scene, with screaming injured people, three enormous tents destroyed, and rescuers pulling out corpse after corpse. At least 22 ambulances ferried the injured to hospitals in the area, officials said.
"Dead bodies are strewn around, most of them are charred beyond recognition. The bodies were dumped into trucks, jeeps and ambulances and taken away from the public glare," said Prakash Arya, a witness reached at the scene on his mobile phone.
Authorities said most of the corpses were found near the exits.
"Apparently some people were knocked down and crushed in the stampede as they rushed to get out of the inferno," said Rajiv Sabharwal, senior police superintendent for the town.
"I ran for my life," said Mahendra Singh, a shop owner who escaped with minor burns.
It wasn't clear what caused the blaze, though a local politician, Laxmikant Bajpai, told Headlines Today TV station it may have started when plastic sheeting hanging over an air-conditioning unit caught fire. Other officials said the fire may have been sparked by a short circuit.
Several people died overnight from their wounds. But more than 24 hours after the inferno, many people said they were still looking for friends and relatives. While police scoured the ruins, desperate relatives went from hospital to hospital, looking for missing relatives.
"Some of them have come to the mortuary also, but are unable to identify the bodies," said Pushapati Srivastava, a local official.
RSS