New Delhi Fire Kills 28; Thousands Are Homeless

A fire swept through a shantytown in the Indian capital Sunday, killing at least 28 people, injuring 20 others and leaving thousands homeless, fire officials said.

Most of the charred bodies were found in a mosque where people had assembled to pray in the eastern district of New Delhi.

A police official said today that those trapped in the fire had been rescued and that the entire slum area had been cleared.

Thirty fire engines took more than four hours to douse the flames, fanned by strong winds. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

The blaze devastated thousands of mud huts in the Vijay Ghat area near the Yamuna River. Firefighters found it difficult to move their vehicles through the narrow lanes of the slum district.

Many residents of the district are ragpickers, or people who collect plastic bags and other goods such as old newspapers to sell.

Most of the residents were at home when the fire began. “I ran for my life and had no time to pick up my belongings,” said Ram Kumar, 28, a rickshaw driver.

Witnesses said people threw stones and damaged fire engines because the vehicles arrived a long time after the fire had broken out.

“They came more than two hours after the fire started. Many huts could have been saved otherwise,” a resident said.

United News of India quoted left-wing politicians as saying that the fire could have resulted from sabotage by right-wing opponents because it broke out shortly before the start of a public meeting against a campaign to evict the slum-dwellers because they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

A second fire was reported Sunday in New Delhi, but there were no casualties, police said.