New Delhi: A major fire broke out at a slum in Delhi’s Paschim Puri area early Wednesday which left over 250 shanties gutted. More than 25 fire tenders immediately rushed to the spot to douse the blaze. As per latest reports, the fire is under control now and the cooling operations are underway. The fire turned into a massive inferno when seven to eight cylinders blasted one after the other leaving the hutments engulfed in a major blaze.

According to media reports, a short circuit is believed to have triggered off the incident. The  fire department was alerted at around 1:15 am and immediately swung into action, rushing over 20 fire tenders to the spot. Despite, the electricity not being cut off on the incident side, the firemen started to douse the fire to minimize the casualties.  Several gas cylinders have also been recovered from the spot which had reportedly caught fire.

Over 400 hundred people living in these shanties have been affected by this fire. The Paschim Puri fire took place a day after 17 people were killed in a fire at a hotel in Karol Bagh.

(This is a developing story and more details are awaited)