NEW DELHI, Aug 7: A major fire erupted on Monday in a shopping mall crowded with shoppers and filmgoers in the northern Indian city of Meerut but there were no immediate reports of casualties, officials said.

Meerut city police chief Navneet Sikera said fire trucks battled the flames at the Vishal Mega Mall, which also houses three mini cinemas.

Scores of people were evacuated before the fire could trap them in the sprawling complex, television stations quoted other officials as saying.

On April 10, at least 42 people died and scores were injured when a blaze tore through a trade fair in Meerut, 80 kilometres north of New Delhi.

The blaze was blamed on the negligence of the organisers.

—AFP