New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS): At least 15 people were killed and 34 injured in a fire at a congregation of eunuchs in a community park in east Delhi Sunday, fire brigade officials said.

However, Delhi Health Minister A.K. Walia, who visited the injured in hospital, put the number of dead at 12, while police said 10 people had been killed.

Walia, who visited the Guru Tegh Bahadur hospital where most of the injured were taken, announced compensation for the victims but did not specify the amount.

The first intimation of the fire at the park in Nand Nagri's E2 block where the three-day Akhil Bharatiya Kinnara Samaj Sarvdharma Mahasammelan had started Sunday morning was received around 6.50 p.m., a fire brigade official said.

According to officials, the fire broke out after a tent caught fire following a electrical short-circuit.

The fire official also said that the organisers had not taken permission from the department.

The approach road to the park was narrow, which hampered rescue operations as the big fire tenders could not reach the spot to fight the blaze. However, smaller fire tenders were able to get in and battle the flames.

Meanwhile, the eunuchs themselves, aided by personnel of the National Disaster Response Force, the Delhi government's civil defence and the Nirankari Sevak Samaj, started rescue operations, bringing out the injured and dead bodies and clearing the debris.

Ashu, a participant in the event, said eunuchs had started arriving for the event since Saturday evening and were staying at the venue, where a huge marquee had been put up.

Most of the injured were taken to the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, which was only a short distance away.

Some injured were also taken to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital.