New Delhi: A major fire broke out at the exhibition grounds in Nampally area of Hyderabad on Wednesday night, gutting at least 200 stalls and damaging goods worth crores of rupees.At least two persons were admitted to a hospital due to suffocation, officials said. They were later discharged on Thursday.The fire started at around 8.30 pm and based on preliminary information, it was revealed that the blaze might have started due to a short-circuit at a private bank’s stall which spread to nearby areas, triggering panic among visitors.Telangana home minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali said there was no loss of life and around 130 stalls were gutted in the incident. Other reports said as many as 200 stalls were gutted in the fire. Ali said a thorough inquiry would be conducted into the matter.The All India Industrial Exhibition, popularly known as Numaish, is an annual event held in Hyderabad. The exhibition is held for 45 days beginning from January 1 and around 2,000 stalls are set up. Thousands of visitors attend the exhibition every day. According to estimates, around 35,000 people visited the ground on Wednesday.Twelve fire tenders and as many water tankers arrived at the ground to put out the fire. Teams of disaster response force of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation were also pressed into service.The fire was brought under control by 11 pm, officials said.GHMC commissioner Dana Kishore said visitors were safely evacuated .Many stall owners and businessmen said they suffered heavy loss of property in the fire. They demanded the government extend financial assistance.Traders whose stalls were gutted in the fire staged a protest on Thursday demanding compensation.Also Read: From Fire Safety to Urban Planning, Indian Regulations Are Not WorkingMeanwhile, police are investigation how the fire that broke out.There was no loss of life or injury to anyone, police said adding it and other departments launched investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the incident.Traders said they suffered heavy property loss due to the fire and claimed they had taken loans to set up the stalls and demanded that the government extend financial assistance.The protesting traders gathered near the ground and claimed the Exhibition Society did not make proper arrangements. They said the response to the fire was slow and the fire destroyed many products. The society denies the charge.“We are inquiring and action will be initiated against those responsible. CCTV footage is also being verified,” a representative of the society said.The exhibition would remain closed for the public on Thursday.The fire broke out at around 8:30 pm on Wednesday night. Credit: PTI‘Reduced to ashes’“Everything has been reduced to ashes… we suffered heavy property loss. We took loans to run the businesses and now we are on the streets,” some traders said.They blamed the exhibition society over the incident. They added that the fire engine stationed at the exhibition grounds did not have sufficient water.A Kashmiri shawl trader told The New Minute he brought goods worth over Rs 15 lakh, which was reduced to goods just enough to fit in an auto. “I had lost goods earlier in Kerala floods also. I had set up a stall at Thrissur and lost all my goods there and now this fire. You know the situation in Kashmir. I don’t know what to do,” said Hussain, the trader.Another trader from Gujarat said he lost property worth Rs 50 lakh. “We didn’t know if we should hold on to our goods or run for our lives,” he told TNM.Earlier in the month, business was interrupted by unseasonal rain. Some goods were also damaged in the rain. For traders, the fire added to their troubles.