Hyderabad, February 9
Four persons, including a woman and a girl, were burnt alive at Singareni Colony in Saidabad here today in a monster fire accident that reduced more than 3,000 hutments to ashes.
The fire, which caught the residents, most of them daily wage earners, unawares at around 1 pm, spread within minutes across the shanties in the 50-acre slum area, destroying property estimated at Rs 9 crore.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy who visited the spot later announced Rs 1 lakh ex gratia to the victims of the accident. He also assured that ‘pucca’ houses would be built within two months for those who had lost their dwellings.
The damage could not be contained as only a single fire engine was deployed to douse the raging fires, leaving thousands homeless in a matter of couple of hours. A large number of the residents belonged to the neighbouring Nalgonda and Mahboobnagar districts, who came in search of work to the city.
Fire officials said that cooking gas cylinders in the hutments, which caught the fire, aggravated the disaster. As many as 50 cylinders exploded, adding literally fuel to the fire. The cause of the accident could not be ascertained immediately but the police said that sabotage could not be ruled out.
