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

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 [ Images ] 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