Delhi News: Two kids die, 800 shanties gutted as massive fire engulfs jhuggi cluster in Rohini Sector 17 | Video

In a tragic incident, two children were killed and five people were injured when a massive fire gutted more than 800 shanties in a jhuggi cluster in the national capital on Sunday.

The tragedy took place on Sunday morning at Sector 17 in Rohini area of Delhi.

The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) received a distress call around 11.55 AM.

According to the fire department, the fire was completely doused in three hours with the help of 26 fire tenders, but cooling operations are still underway.

Charred bodies of two children -- a two-and-a-half year old and a three-year-old -- were recovered from the remains, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Amit Goel told news agency PTI.

"We received a call reporting a fire close to Sriniketan Apartment at Sector 17. We immediately dispatched 17 fire engines. Upon observing the intensity of the fire, we upgraded it to a medium category fire by 12.40 pm and called for more vehicles and manpower," a Delhi Fire Service official said, as per the PTI report.

He added that a total of 26 fire tenders were deployed at the spot.

Union Health Minister and BJP president JP Nadda spoke to Delhi CM Rekha Gupta and Delhi BJP president Virendraa Sachdeva and asked them to provide immediate assistance to the victim of the Rohini fire incident.

He also asked Sachdeva to involve BJP workers to provide assistance to the affected people.

How the fire started?

According to DFS, the fire started from one of the huts and immediately engulfed the entire area.

More than 800 densely packed shanties, spread across around five acres, were gutted in fire. Thick plumes of smoke billowed into the sky as fire fighters battled the flames.

The exact cause of the fire is not known yet.

However, preliminary inputs suggest the fire could have been triggered within the cluster itself.

"It took more than three hours to douse the flames completely. The cooling operation is still underway. The bodies of two children were recovered and immediately sent to a nearby hospital," the DFS official said.

"The fire is now completely under control. Cooling operations are in progress," he said.

Further investigation into the incident is underway.