20151112 India Hundreds left homeless after slum fire
India Nov 11 2015 “Houses”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Hundreds left homeless after slum fire
Updated: 2015-11-14-01:17
Hundreds of families were rendered homeless and their belongings reduced to ashes after a massive fire raged through Habeebnagar slum settlements near Aishbagh Eidgah on Thursday night. More than 200 hutments were gutted in the fire which broke out around 7pm on Thursday and could only be fully controlled by Friday morning.
Most residents of the slum are migrants from Assam who work as rag pickers in the city. The cause of the fire was a cracker explosion within the slum, said a fire department officer. With fire tenders in the city proving inadequate to contain the fire, help was sought from Army, HAL, Tata and Sahara.
Senior officials including SSP, chief fire officer, ADM and personnel from eight police stations were deputed to control the residents who were in a frenzy on seeing their makeshift homes burning down. Mayor, local corporator and imam of Aishbagh Eidgah too participated in rescue work along with local residents.
While no lives were lost, several persons sustained injuries. “People tried to escape with whatever they could before flames engulfed the entire slum. Some got burnt in the process,” said chief fire officer AB Pandey.
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Hundreds-left-homeless-after-slum-fire/articleshow/49774699.cms