The 1981 Bangalore circus fire occurred on 7 February 1981 at the Venus Circus in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, where more than 92 people died, the majority of them being children.

Incident

The day of the fire was the last day of the circus, with school children being the bulk of the audience as the gates had been left open by

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

management and many were accompanied by teachers or parents. Eyewitnesses later stated that shortly after the trapeze artist landed cries of ''"Benki, Benki!"'' (''"Fire, Fire!"'') were heard throughout the tent. The fire swept the main

circus tent A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

, which crashed down in flames onto a crowd of about 4,000 people, setting off a

stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...

towards the exits. The cause of the fire was speculated to be a discarded cigarette or an electric

short circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit ...

. The blaze erupted at the back gate as a three-hour matinee had ended and the spectators were moving towards the exits. Apart from the spectators inside, another huge crowd was waiting outside the tent for the next show. The flames quickly spread through the canvas top and wooden bleachers, whipped by strong winds. It took only 15 minutes for the fire to consume the tent, long before the first fire engines arrived. Parents, passers-by and

autorickshaw An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many terms in various countries including auto, auto rickshaw, baby taxi, mototaxi, pigeon, jonnybee, bajaj ...

drivers also attempted to pull children and others out of the tent, with some becoming victims themselves after being overwhelmed by the fire. The 4000-seater spectator gallery was also destroyed during the fire. Help could not be sought immediately as the telephone lines were dead. Many of the female performers ran into the fire to save the children. Animals were not hurt as they were not inside the ring at the time, and employees pulled caged tigers and lions away from the blaze. Elephants and horses broke their tethers and escaped to safety.

Victims

The fire disaster claimed 92 lives and 300 others were injured. 56 of those killed, and many of those hurt, were school children. More children were killed in the stampede than by the fire. 21 adults who died were mothers and teachers who had brought the children to the special Saturday matinee for kids. Several of the burn victims were charred beyond recognition. A total of 119 patients were treated in the Burns centre at Victoria Hospital. Fourteen patients with more than 80 percent burns died within 48 hours of the disaster. 32 patients were operated by skin grafting or flap procedures.

Investigation

An inquiry commission was formed, with the then high court Judge Justice NR Kudoor in the head position. It later found that high-tension electric cables that had been strung overhead of the circus tent were the cause of the fire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bangalore Circus Fire, 1981 Fires in India

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

1981 in India 1981 fires in Asia History of Karnataka (1947–present) Circus disasters February 1981 events in Asia

Incident

Victims

Investigation

See also

References