Close to 100 jhuggis were razed to the ground when a massive fire broke out in the slums near Batla House in Southeast Delhi's Jamia Nagar area on Tuesday morning. One woman and three children sustained minor burn injuries.
According to a senior officer from the Delhi Fiore Services, they received a call at around 11.43 am about a fire at slums near Batla House.
"Total eight to nine of our vehicles have arrived for fire fighting. Fire has been controlled, only cooling is left," said a senior fire fighter.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. However, locals told that short circuit or cooking within someone's home led to the massive fire.
locals claimed the number of shanties which was gutted was between 150 and 200.There were also complaints that the Fire Brigade came after more than an hour after the fire was caught.
"When the fire caught at 11-11:30, it was massive. Despite numerous calls, the fire brigade came after one and half hour," said Mehmood Ahmed, a local resident.
Ahmed said that the fire spread quickly, causing everyone to leave their homes, and now most of them are left with no food or clothing except the one they have on them.
Meanwhile, a minor fire broke out in a room of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in the South Block here early on Tuesday morning, but no one was injured in the incident, the Delhi Fire Services said.
A senior fire department officer said that they received a call about a fire in room number 242 of the Prime Minister's Office around 3.35 am. Seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was doused within 20 minutes, the official said, adding no one was injured in the incident. Four air conditioners were burnt. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, added the official.