A major fire broke out on Sunday in shanties in Anandapur area in the southeastern part of Kolkata, an official said.

There was no report of casualty or anyone being trapped in the shacks, he said.

Eleven fire tenders were pressed into service to put off the flames, first spotted around 10.30 am and the blaze was doused in an hour’s operation, the fire department official said.

"Our men are still at the spot. The cooling-off operation is underway The area near a private hospital has been cordoned off,” the fire brigade official said.

Locals, who joined fire brigade personnel to put off the flames, claimed that they heard LPG cylinder explosions from the spot.

The fire broke out at one of the shacks selling food items and spread to a cluster of shanties, both vending food and other items and dwelling units and all those present there were evacuated, the official said.

Around 50 families, living in the shanties, found all their belongings gutted in the blaze, one of the locals who joined firefighting operations, said.

“We have lost everything in the fire. The jewellery for my daughter’s wedding,” a sobbing Minati Dasi, one of those whose dwelling units have been reduced to ashes, told reporters at the spot.

The fire is believed to have been caused by an LPG cylinder blast and quickly spread, the fire brigade official said.

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