20151207 India Two killed, 13 injured as fire guts 2,000 Kandivli hutments
India Dec 06 2015 “Other”
Dead : dead 1 to 4 Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured more than 10
Two killed, 13 injured as fire guts 2,000 Kandivli hutments
Updated: 2015-12-08-00:03
“How do we go on now?” was the question on most lips at Kandivli’s Damu Nagar where around 2,000 hutments were destroyed in a blaze on Monday afternoon. Two people died and 11 were injured after a massive fire in the slum, which officials said spread after cylinders in the shanties exploded. Its cause is yet to be determined.
“The fire started around noon, probably due to a cylinder blast in one home, and then spread quickly. There were several explosions as many residents had LPG cylinders,” said additional commissioner, north region, Fatehsinh Patil. Local corporator Ajanta Yadav said the fire could have staarted after a woman tried to set herself ablaze during a fight with her husband.
As the slum is on the slope of a hill, fire-fighters broke a brick wall at the bottom of the slope to lay down large pipes that could carry water uphill. It was impossible for engines to drive up to the narrow clusters of hutments. Many people initially ran up the hill to save themselves, but once the fire was doused began the search for missing relatives, especially children due to return from school at the time. Rinku Gupta, who was in Damu Nagar for a meeting on Monday, said he counted 27 explosions while trying to run for his life. “Even after fire-fighting operations were over, the neighbourhood wasn’t safe as it was littered with live wires and gas cylinders that didn’t explode. But residents walked back to check the damage to their homes,” he said. Bhiva Shirsat, a driver who works in Thakur Village, thanked his stars when he was reunited with his 11-year-old son and five-year-old daughter. “My wife and I were at work and the kids at school when the fire gutted our house. The kids leave school around noon and we knew they would be headed home that time,” said Shirsat.
Web Source: TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Day-old-ailing-infant-charred-as-ambulance-catches-fire-in-Thane/articleshow/50143737.cms