Thane, Apr 11: Three persons were killed in a major fire that broke out in a slum cluster in Thane district of Maharashtra, triggering the explosion of multiple LPG cylinders, a civic official said on Saturday.
The blaze erupted at around 8.30 PM on Friday in the Navghar area of Mira Bhayander at Indralok slum colony, Chief Fire Officer of Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) Prakash Borade told PTI.
Flames were visible from a long distance as the fire quickly spread through the densely packed cluster of temporary huts made of thatch and cloth, he said.
Around 30 to 35 huts were gutted in the incident. Several gas cylinders exploded during the blaze. Fire personnel managed to remove as many as 24 cylinders from the site, some of them filled and others empty, the official said.
Firefighters battled the blaze for nearly an hour before bringing it under control, Borade said.
The three deceased were charred beyond recognition, and their bodies have been sent to a government hospital for postmortem, he added.
The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. (PTI)
