One killed, four injured in major fire in slum near Mumbai

A 42-year-old man was killed and four others, including two Fire Brigade personnel and a boy, were injured after a major fire broke out in a slum at Bhayandar in Thane district neighbouring Mumbai on Wednesday morning, destroying several huts and shops, officials said.

The incident occurred at around 5 am in the Azad Nagar slum, Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) Commissioner Sanjay Katkar said, adding that many commercial establishments are located in the locality.

More than 30 huts were destroyed and some commercial establishments were also charred in the blaze, he said.

The occupants of huts and other residents of the locality ran out of their homes after the blaze erupted, said Katkar who oversaw the rescue and relief work at the site.

Some explosions, apparently of gas cylinders, were heard in the locality, according to sources.

Thick smoke emanating after the blaze could be seen from a long distance.

As many as 24 fire engines from MBMC and an equal number of water tankers, drawn from MBMC and neighbouring civic bodies, were involved in the firefighting operation, Katkar said.

A charred body was found at the site and sent for post-mortem to a government hospital, MBMC's disaster management cell chief Narendra Chavan told PTI.

Fire brigade personnel struggled to find their way to reach the spot due to the narrow space between the clusters of slums, sources said. The blaze was put out at around 9:30 am and cooling operations continued till late afternoon.

The deceased person is identified as Pappu Chaurasia who worked as the priest of a temple in the slum colony, said Thane Municipal Corporation's Disaster Management Cell chief Yasin Tadvi. The injured persons are identified as Fire Brigade personnel Shivaji Sawant (40) and Santosh Patil (38), a nine-year-old boy, and a 55-year-old man. They were treated at a local hospital, he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Prakash Gaikwad told reporters that the blaze started in a garbage heap adjacent to shanties and spread rapidly. ''The exact cause of the fire is not known,'' he said.

Local Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has directed the civic commissioner to arrange for a temporary shelter for the affected people. ''Later they will be put up in permanent camps. They will be accommodated in an upcoming SRA scheme in Thane along with other residents,'' he told reporters at the spot. Sarnaik said the slum colony was situated on a plot reserved for a playground and public amenities.

''Post the implementation of the SRA scheme, 35% of the land is required to be given to the civic corporation for development,'' he said.

After the fire was extinguished, many residents, mostly women, rummaged through the ruins of the gutted hutments to find their belongings. The occupants of the huts are left with nothing except for the clothes they were wearing.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)