At least 51 people died when a short circuit set fire to a makeshift palm-frond hall at a wedding ceremony in southern India today, a district official said.
Many victims may have been crushed to death as panicked guests stampeded through the hall's narrow entrance in the Hindu temple town of Srirangam, on a river island 315 km (200 miles) south of the Tamil Nadu state capital, Chennai, he said.
"Hospital authorities have told me that they have received 51 bodies and I fear the toll may be higher as there are many who are seriously injured as well," the official
About 500 guests were at the ceremony when the fire started.