A fire ripped through a slum settlement in eastern Kolkata’s Nonadanga area on Wednesday evening, leaving several families without shelter, officials said.
The blaze broke out at the Matangini Colony slum under Anandapur police station around 6.20 pm. Within minutes, thick black smoke rose over the locality as flames spread rapidly through closely packed shanties, gutting many of them.
Firefighters were initially deployed with two engines, but the response was scaled up as the situation worsened. “Initially two fire tenders reached the spot. As the blaze intensified, five more fire engines were pressed into service,” an officer said.
Officials said the cause of the fire was yet to be established. “The exact cause of the fire is not known so far, but a short circuit is being suspected as the likely reason,” he said.
Residents, however, pointed to another possible factor behind the speed with which the fire spread. Some locals claimed that multiple LPG cylinders exploded, triggering the rapid movement of flames across the slum, a policeman said.
Several residents have been rendered homeless, though authorities confirmed that no casualties have been reported so far.
Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, Manoj Kumar Verma said, "The fire affected several huts and makeshift homes in the settlement. The local fire team, police, disaster management authorities, and the Kolkata Police emergency response team immediately rushed to the spot."
