2 children killed, over 800 shanties gutted as fire engulfs jhuggi cluster

New Delhi: In a tragic incident, two children died and five people were injured when a massive fire gutted over 800 shanties in a jhuggi cluster in Rohini on Sunday morning.

The blaze was doused completely after firefighters

worked tirelessly for three hours, a Delhi Fire Service official said

Charred bodies of two children — a two-and-a-half-year-old and a three-year-old — were recovered from the remains, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Amit Goel said.

The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) official said they received a distress call around 11.55 am.

“We received a call reporting a fire close to Sriniketan Apartment at Sector 17. We immediately dispatched 17 fire engines. Upon observing the intensity of the fire, we upgraded it to a medium category

fire by 12.40 pm and called for more vehicles and manpower,” he said, adding that a total of 26 fire tenders were deployed at the spot.

The fire engulfed over 800 densely packed shanties spread across around five acres. Thick plumes of smoke billowed into the sky as fire fighters battled the flames.

Multiple police teams were also deployed at the spot along with the fire brigade.

According to DFS, the fire started from one of the huts and immediately engulfed the entire area. The official explained that firefighters faced significant hurdles due to the location. “There is an apartment complex with boundary walls in front of the affected area, making access extremely difficult. Fire engines had to be lined up one behind the other, delaying the operation,” he said.

Preliminary inputs suggest the fire could have been triggered within the cluster itself, he said. There are no organised electrical wiring systems in the area but several LPG cylinders were found, which could have contributed to the spread of the fire.

Delhi’s former chief minister Atishi said in a post on X, “There was a huge fire in the slums of Rohini at 1 pm today. Two children lost their lives in that fire. And what was Chief Minister Rekha Gupta doing at that time? She was listening to “Mann Ki Baat”. The whole day passed - forget about going to the slums of Rohini, the Chief Minister did not even find time to tweet about this.”