Fire burns down Rohingya refugee camp in Delhi
NEW DELHI: Nearly 250 Rohingya refugees were rendered homeless after a fire broke out in their camp near south Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj in the early hours of Sunday.
While all families residing in the 46 houses of the cluster managed to escape safely, a 30-yearold mechanic — who works at a neighbouring garage — was injured while trying to put out the blaze. The residents of the camp said they had lost all their belongings in the fire.
According to residents of the camp, the fire broke out around 3.10am when most residents of the camp were asleep and rushed out to the road outside the camp after being alerted about the blaze. “The fire first started in a toilet and soon spread to all the houses and burnt everything down,” said Sufiya, 27, who lives in the camp with her family.
Most of the houses in the camp were two-storey temporary structures made of combustible materials. Lawyer Amruddin Saifi, who resides close to the camp, said his family and a few others rushed to the site after noticing the fire from a distance.
“The flames were really high, which is why I could see them even from my house when I woke
up in the middle of the night. Initially, I thought that a gas plant, which is close to the camp, had caught fire,” said Saifi.
After gutting the shanties, the fire also engulfed some vehicles kept in a nearby garage, injuring a mechanic. The fire department was informed and a Delhi Fire Services official said 11 fire tend-
ers were pressed into service.
“The fire were doused around 6.50am and cooling operations continued thereafter,” said the official.
Deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said that it was under investigation but said that prima facie there was no foul play.