The Hindu : New Delhi News : Eight charred to death in Delhi slum fire

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Monday, Jan 07, 2008
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New Delhi

Eight charred to death in Delhi slum fire

Staff Reporter

The blaze engulfed about 300 shanties housing over 800 people in Lahori Gate area

Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma.

Without a roof: This here is the scene after a fire gutted over 300 slums claiming eight lives in the early hours on Sunday at Lahori Gate in Delhi.

NEW DELHI: Eight people were charred to death and nine sustained burn injuries in a devastating fire that swept through a slum cluster at Lahori Gate here in the early hours of Sunday. The injured, four of whom are stated to be in a serious condition, have been admitted to Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Narayan Hospital.

According to the Delhi Fire Service, the fire broke out around 2-30 a.m. and the blaze engulfed about 300 shanties housing over 800 people. While most occupants managed to flee before their shanties caught fire, seven were trapped and met with their tragic end.

In all, 30 fire tenders took nearly three hours to bring the blaze under control. Senior fire officials supervised the operation. “Our main concern was to prevent the fire from spreading to the nearby shops,” said an official, adding that an electric short-circuit could have set off the fire.

Though the identities of the deceased have been not been established, the police suspect that six of them are Ompal and his three children Sonu, Basati and Kallu besides Rekha and Male Khan as they are untraceable. One of the injured, Mallika, succumbed to her injuries in the hospital later. The other injured have been identified as Nazrul (10), Shabnam (10), Akram (10), Irfan (12), Tinku (12), Sana (14), Shaukeen (26) Afsana (35) and Nazma (35).

Later in the day, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit along with the Chief Secretary and other Government officials visited the spot to take stock of the situation. She met the affected families and announced a compensation of Rs.1 lakh to the next of the kin of each of the adult deceased and Rs.50, 000 to each family of the minors killed. Those who sustained serious injuries will be given Rs.20,000 each, and people with minor burns would be given Rs.1,000. Those whose shanties were gutted would be given Rs. 2,000 each.

Ms. Dikshit directed the Chief Secretary to contact the Railway authorities for arranging all necessary assistance to the slum dwellers as their shanties were located near a railway line. She also asked the officials to provide food, blankets and medicines to the affected families. People who have lost their houses would be accommodated in night-shelters in view of the extreme cold weather.

The police are investigating the cause of the incident.

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