NEW DELHI, May 24: A six-year-old boy, Jameel, died in a fire which broke out in the Shastri Park area of East Delhi this afternoon. Around 30 jhuggis were gutted and eight houses partially damaged in the incident. Another child, Atiq (7) also suffered serious burns and was taken to a nearby hospital.Residents of D-block in the area said the fire started from a metal work factory near Buland Masjid around 3 p.m.. ``We saw a spark and then a huge ball of fire which leapt towards the overhead electric wires. The fire immediately spread through the area,'' said a resident.
Twelve fire tenders reached the spot and brought the blaze under control within an hour. But, the fire had already engulfed the jhuggis and some nearby buildings.
Jameel and Atiq, who were sleeping in one of the jhuggis, were trapped inside. While Jameel succumbed to his injuries on the spot, Atiq suffered serious burns.
Even as the local police reached the spot, agitated residents demanded action against the factory owners. One of the residents, Abdul Sattar, told Express Newsline: ``We have lodged several complaints with the DVB about the illegal pilferage of electricity, but no one has responded so far. Neither has anyone bothered to relocate the large number of factories in this residential area.''
Most of these factories, Sattar said, were ordered to shift elsewhere some time ago. But, neither the owners nor the authorities had done anything in this regard.
