By IANS
New Delhi : Two children were killed in a fire that broke out in a slum in south Delhi Sunday.
With 20-25 tiny houses huddled together, the slum behind the Shalimar theatre near Ashram caught fire at around 3 pm.
Fire department sources said that two charred bodies of children were recovered but according to eyewitnesses bodies of at least four children were found after the fire was doused.
Delhi fire department’s chief R. C. Sharma said, “We sent around eight to nine fire tenders to douse the fire in the slum. It was a minor fire and things are under control,” Sharma told IANS.
“While most of the older people managed to escape the fire, children were trapped in the burning houses. The fire tenders came a good half an hour after the fire started…and now that they have finally managed to control things, the people have recovered four charred bodies of children,” said Animesh Sharma, an eyewitness.
In another incident, the third floor of Paryavaran Bhavan in Lodhi Road also caught fire.
“It was a minor fire which was soon under control. We sent eight to nine fire tenders there as well,” an official of the fire department said.
No causalities were reported there as well, according to the fire department.