At least 58 people were killed and about 200 injured, most of them in a stampede and choking due to emission of a poisonous gas following a devastating fire that raged at the packed Uphaar cinema hall in south Delhi yesterday.
Only seven of those dead bore burn injuries while the rest were believed to have died due to suffocation and heat.
Most of the victims, including women and children, were brought dead to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Safdarjung Hospital, the additional DCP, SBK Singh, told newsmen at the scene.
Police Commissioner T R Kakkar said the fire was caused by a short circuit in a transformer in the theatres basement which exploded leading to a fire in the air-conditioning plant.
Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna told reporters that the foam lining of the AC plant emitted poisonous fumes.
Of the 41 bodies at the AIIMS, 24 have been identified and were being handed over to their relatives without a post-mortem.
The Delhi government has announced the payment of an ex-gratia amount of Rs 50,000 to the next of the kin of those killed, Rs 20,000 for those seriously injured and Rs 10,000 for those with minor injuries.
Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh has directed the deputy commissioner of police (south), Naresh Kumar, to probe the tragedy.
Expressing shock and grief over the incident, Prime Minister I K Gujral has conveyed heart-felt condolences to the bereaved families and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.
Police cordoned off the entire premises of Uphaar grand cinema complex. Nearly 100 firemen fought for over two hours to control the blaze. Experts from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory reached the scene.
The devastating fire broke out 15 minutes after the interval as people settled down to enjoy the much-trumpeted war movie. it soon turned into an inferno and led to a wild stampede that left scores dead and injured.
The multi-starrer film based on the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war attracted huge crowds as it opened today in several movie theatres in the capital. It boasts of a cast including Jackie Shroff, Sunny Deol, Rakhee, Pooja Bhatt and Tabu.
Police said later that the explosion in the transformer was probably because it was overloaded.
Many in the main hall managed to escape but the worst casualties were among those seated in the balcony.
As the bodies began to be brought to the hospitals, relatives started streaming in. When some private television channel crew sought their reaction to the tragedy, an angry relative almost smashed their cameras. Where is my son? At least let me have a glimpse of his body, screamed an anguished father
As the sobbing relatives of victims milled around the corridors of AIIMS, Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma ordered that the bodies be handed over without any post-mortem. Life has been snuffed out. What are you going to get from the post-mortem, asked a distraught relative.
The cinema hall witnessed a fire a few years ago and its closure had been ordered.
