50 killed in Indian wedding hall fire

At least 50 people died on Friday when fire swept through a wedding hall, turning the building into an inferno, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, police said.
The 28-year-old bridegroom was among the dead who also included 28 women and four children. Some 75 people were injured.
Scenes of panic reigned as relatives and guests struggled to escape down a narrow stairway, a witness said. Some were killed in the stampede while others died from smoke inhalation.
"There was suffocating and blinding smoke and a pungent smell which delayed rescue operations," Raju Pillai, a watchman in a neighbouring building, said.
Witnesses said the blaze spread from the holy fire that had been lit for the bride and the groom to walk around seven times to solemnise their wedding vows according to Hindu religious customs.
The bride escaped unhurt as she was still preparing for the wedding ceremony, an official said.
The blaze occurred in Tiruchchirapally near the famed Srirangam Hindu temple, some 300 kilometres (186 miles) from the Tamil Nadu state capital Madras, police said.
The flames tore through the packed hall which was decorated with dried coconut palm leaves that quickly caught fire. The blaze was aggravated when a light from a video camera being used to film the ceremony exploded.
A resident of the area said marriages were usually held in the ground floor of the hall but the first floor was used in order to accommodate the big guest turnout.
"The heavy silk saris worn by the women and the costumes of the children quickly caught the fire. They had little chance of climbing down the narrow stairs to escape," the resident said.
Many of the people who died lived in the town which was still trying to come to terms with the tragedy.
The blaze was brought under control and firemen had removed the bodies of victims, a police official said.
Most of the injured were shifted to a nearby government-run hospital.
Some of the injured were suffering more than 50 percent burns, Kalavaty Ponniraivan, dean of the hospital, said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa expressed shock at the accident and ordered an inquiry.
Opposition political leaders charged that the victims were not receiving adequate treatment as the local hospital lacked sufficient facilities.
Pillai said he saw corpses being transported in garbage lorries to the hospital.
Witnesses said that some of the bodies had to be laid outside the government hospital's mortuary as it did not have enough space inside.