Massive fire breaks out in slum in Kolkata; one dead

Kolkata: A major fire broke out in a slum in the Narkeldanga area of the city in which one person was killed, a Fire Brigade official said on Sunday.

At least 30 shanties were gutted in the fire, the official said.

The charred body of Habibullah Mollah (65), a rag picker was recovered from a gutted shanty after fire brigade personnel fully doused the flames early Sunday, the official said.

Seventeen fire tenders fought the blaze for over five hours to contain the flames which were first spotted at around 10 pm on Saturday and fully extinguished at around 3 am on Sunday, he said.

The body of Mollah, a resident of the slum was found during search and rescue operation.

There was no report of any other serious injury in the blaze, he said.

The Narkeldanga police station is located close to the spot where the fire broke and policemen accompanied by fire brigade personnel regulated vehicular traffic movement along Narkeldanga Main Road.

The fire left around 200 people living in the slum homeless.