At least 250 slum dwellings were destroyed in a huge fire in Delhi's Mangolpuri area early Monday, according to local reports.
Reports say between 250 and 400 "jhuggis" (slum homes) were destroyed and some 25 fire trucks were despatched to the area to put out the flames.
Visuals of fire that broke out in Delhi's Mongolpuri area in early hours today, 400 'jhuggis' gutted in the fire. pic.twitter.com/An6iraxUT9— ANI (@ANI_news) October 19, 2015
#NewsFlash: Fire in Delhi's #MangolPuri area; 400 slum dwellings destroyed http://t.co/fEFg6bmX8q pic.twitter.com/c4lQSH7twE— Catch Live (@Catch_Live) October 19, 2015
Local news network NDTV says the first alert of the fire was made at about 2 a.m. A resident told ANI: "The fire broke out early in the morning and our kids woke us up. The first thing we saw were flames inside our house. All we could do was grab the kids and run. Everything has been burnt down. From food to clothes to all our belongings. We only have the clothes left on our body now."
The fire was brought under control later in the morning. So far, no casualties have been reported.
In April, another fire broke out in Delhi's Vasant Kunj slum area and razed 500 jhuggis, many of which were thatched huts that caught fire easily. Eight people were injured, and many rendered homeless after the tragedy.
According to a recent report, over 22% of Delhi's 16 million people lives in slums.
Just in: Visuals of fire that broke out in Delhi's Mangolpuri area in early hours today http://t.co/5sBxlWydXQ pic.twitter.com/cJzHSoQlGx— NDTV (@ndtv) October 19, 2015