At least 50 people, mostly women, were feared killed on Monday evening in a major fire accident in Meerut, 65 km from Delhi.

The fire spread within five minutes and as there were only one entrance and one exit to the air-conditioned hall, the children and women got trapped in it as the fire blazed rapidly.

The Consumer Trade Fair, where the fire broke out, was being organised by Brand India Consumers Forum and was jointly sponsored by the local daily Dainik Jagaran.

Image: Steel frames and airconditioners of the Pandal for a consumer goods  fair in Meerut which caught fire on Monday evening killing over fifty persons.

Photograph: Sondeep Shankar/ Saab Pictures