40-year-old labourer dies in fire at Gurugram slum cluster near Sector 53

Police suspect a short circuit triggered the blaze that rapidly spread through the tin-and-plastic shanty late Tuesday night.

A 40-year-old man was killed after a fire broke out in a shanty in a slum cluster near Sector 53 in Gurugram late Tuesday night, police said on Wednesday.

40-year-old labourer dies in fire at Gurugram slum cluster near Sector 53

The deceased was identified as Robin Das, originally from West Bengal who had been working as a labourer in Gurugram for the past few years, officers said. According to police, the fire broke out around midnight in a single shanty where Das was sleeping alone.

Preliminary investigation suggests the blaze may have been triggered by a short circuit. Officers said the structure, made of tin sheets and plastic material, contained combustible items that may have caused the fire to spread rapidly. Police said Das’s daughter and son-in-law, who live in the same slum cluster, were staying nearby and rushed to the spot after noticing the commotion, but he could not be rescued.

A PCR call was received around 12.30am, by which time the fire had largely subsided. A senior fire department official said no information about the blaze was received during the night. Police later recovered the charred body and sent it for post-mortem examination.