Fire burns down 32 shanties in Fatehpur

(Written by Sushant Nepta)

A major fire reduced at least 32 shanties to ashes in Fatehpur village, Panchkula in the wee hours on Wednesday.

The sleeping residents managed to get away in time and called the fire department. Vehicles from the Sector 20 fire station reached the spot and took two hours to bring the fire under control. However, most of the structures had been completely destroyed by then. The fire department officials could not find a cause behind the fire outbreak till the filing of this report.

Nobody was injured in the incident but many lost their belongings to the fire. The dwellers reported that 5-6 LPG cylinders had burst as well. Some even lost their savings. Talking to Newsline, one of the dwellers named Kiran (50) showed the burnt remains of her savings. “While fleeing the jhuggi, I hastily picked a box thinking that it was the one with my savings of Rs 60,000. Unfortunately it turned out to be the wrong box”. Most of the people living in the shanties do not have a bank account and keep cash as savings.