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15 Die in Fire at India’s Transgender Gathering

Posted by on Nov 23, 2011 in Bad News | 4 comments

15 more members of the global LGBT community have died by fire, though (thankfully?) burning someone to death doesn’t seem to be the motivation in this story.

A fire broke out in the kitchen at India’s national transgender gathering, the Eunuch Gathering in East Delhi. Over 1000 of India’s estimated 700,000 transgender citizens were in attendance.

One witness, Angelie, said there was a loud short, then flames suddenly erupted and a gas cylinder exploded. Crowds of people ran to the exit from the fairground, the witness said.

Television reports cited fire officials as saying initial investigations suggested the fire had started in the venue’s kitchen.

“We were rescued and brought outside the community centre but we don’t know what has happened to some of our friends who we think are still inside,” one person present at the gathering told reporters.

“The police aren’t giving us the right information … They are taking the bodies out through the back door of the hall,” they said.

It’s worth noting that the term eunuch is not used in a derogatory manner in India.

Our condolences go out to those who lost loved ones in the blaze.

(via Al Jazeera)