Massive fire at Sadar Bazaar slums, 32 tenders sent

A massive fire broke out in the slums near North Delhi’s Sadar Bazaar area on Monday evening. According to a senior fire department official, total 35 fire tenders were pressed into service to control the massive blaze which is suspected to have aggravated due to multiple cylinder blasts in the slums.. “By 8.55 pm, the fire was brought under control,” an official said. However, there were no reports of casualties reported in the mishap. Another senior officer from the Delhi Fire Services said that more than 100 slums are located in the Sadar Bazaar area where the fire broke out. “Rescue operations are still on.”

According to the fire department officials, they received a call at around 6.45 pm that a fire broke out near the Tanga Stand area of Sadar Bazaar which houses several slums. Nearly 30 fire tenders have been pressed into service. A senior fire department official said: “Initially, we sent 15 fire tenders to the spot to douse the flames. It has been more than two hours and the situation is still not under control.”

Eyewitnesses claimed that a massive fire broke out a few metres away from the Sadar Bazaar police station near the Qutub Road bridge where several slums are located. Sadar Bazaar houses a lot of shops that sell wholesale items.

Sources said that the fire aggravated due to multiple cylinder blasts in the slums. Sources, meanwhile, said that so far no casualty has been reported in the incident. However, four persons are alleged to have suffered burn injuries.

Several teams from the Delhi Police, Delhi Fire Services, CATS Ambulance, Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) are currently deployed at the site. Rescue operations are on. A senior police officer said that in the preliminary probe, it appears that the fire broke out due to the short-circuit in the area. Since the huts are located close to each other, the fire quickly spread and escalated into a big blaze.” Meanwhile, police said that once the blaze is brought under control, it will take appropriate action.