LUCKNOW As rescue teams and residents on Thursday trawled through the slum cluster in Lucknow’s Vikas Nagar, reduced to ashes from the blaze the evening before, charred bodies of two children, one aged two years and the other two months old, were found from the ashes during a late-night search operation on Wednesday.
The deceased were identified as Shruti, 2, and her two-month-old sister – daughters of Satish, a native of Kashipurwa village in Barabanki, said deputy commissioner of police (east) Diksha Sharma, adding that the parents were informed and they were at the post-mortem house and have identified the bodies.
District magistrate Vishak G said ₹8 lakh ( ₹4 lakh each) compensation will be given to the families of the deceased.
The fire, which started Wednesday evening in a slum cluster near the Ring Road in Vikas Nagar, rapidly engulfed about 280 shanties and reduced residents’ belongings to ashes. Around 1,000 people, mostly domestic workers and daily wage earners, were left homeless.
Police said most residents managed to escape, but many children could not be rescued in time. Preliminary reports suggest they were trapped inside their shanty as the fire intensified.
AK Singh, SHO, Vikas Nagar, said the bodies were found during a late-night search operation after the blaze was brought under control.
The fire, which broke out in the densely populated slum cluster, spread rapidly, fuelled by highly inflammable materials used in the shanties. Firefighters rushed to the spot and deployed multiple fire tenders to douse the flames. It took several hours to bring the situation under control. Firemen also recovered around 50 LPG cylinders and dumped them into a nearby drain to prevent explosion, with police claiming that many of them exploded leaving black smoke in the sky visible from 10 kms away. At least 20 fire tenders were used in containing the fire.
While chief minister Yogi Adityanath took cognisance of the matter, deputy CM Brajesh Pathak visited the site and initiated a high level investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the fire, saying all sorts of help would be given to help the victims.
