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 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, which crashed down in flames onto a crowd of about 4,000 people, setting off a
stampede towards the exits. The cause of the fire was speculated to be a discarded cigarette 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
auto rickshaw drivers also attempted to pull children and others out of the tent, with some becoming victims themselves after being overwhelmed by the fire. The 4,000-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 ==