Hyderabad: A major fire broke out at the exhibition grounds here Wednesday night.
At least seven persons were admitted to hospital due to suffocation, the officers said, adding that some stalls were gutted.
According to the officers, the fire started from the Andhra Bank stall due to short circuit.
Fire tenders were rushed to the spot to put out the fire even as disaster response force of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation was pressed into service, they said.
The blaze, which apparently started from a stall spread to some other stalls, creating panic among the visitors.
Eye witnesses said the exhibition ground was teeming with people at the time of the incident. People ran out in panic. Several families were separated due to a stampede-like situation.
The 45-day All-India industrial exhibition popularly called 'Numaish' started on January 1.