Fire in Nonadanga slum after 2 cylinders explode

A fire broke out in a slum at Nonadanga off Eastern Metropolitan Bypass at around 7.30 pm on Tuesday.

Six fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames and firefighters took around an hour to extinguish the flame.

An officer of the state Fire and Emergency Services department said that explosion of two cooking gas cylinders led to the fire. Local people heard the sound of two consecutive explosions that suggested that two cooking gas cylinders exploded in one of the shanties.

The incident led to a panic in the area as the fire threatened to spread to the adjacent shanties. The firefighters reached the spot on time and restricted the fire from spreading any further.

Local people gathered after hearing the loud sounds of explosion and found flames billowing out of the bamboo structures of a shanty. Within minutes, the entire shanty was engulfed by the fire.

Residents of the adjacent shanties were found evacuating their houses. They brought all valuables out considering that the fire could spread fast due to heavy wind.

But the firefighters are yet to ascertain the exact reason that led to the explosion of the cooking gas cylinders.