Massive fire destroys nearly 500 thatched huts in Indian capital; 7 hospitalized for burns

An Indian woman carries a child after their home was destroyed in a fire in New Delhi, India, Friday, April 25, 2014. A massive fire ripped through a New Delhi slum Friday, destroying nearly 500 thatched huts and leaving already impoverished families homeless, said a fire department official. Seven people were hospitalized with minor burn wounds. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) (The Associated Press)

An Indian man wails as he sits amidst the remains of his home after a fire in a slum in New Delhi, India, Friday, April 25, 2014. A massive fire ripped through a New Delhi slum Friday, destroying nearly 500 thatched huts and leaving already impoverished families homeless, said a fire department official. Seven people were hospitalized with minor burn wounds. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) (The Associated Press)

An Indian man stands at the site of his home as he watches the devastation around him after a fire in a shanty town in New Delhi, India, Friday, April 25, 2014. A massive fire ripped through a New Delhi slum Friday, destroying nearly 500 thatched huts and leaving already impoverished families homeless, said a fire department official. Seven people were hospitalized with minor burn wounds. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) (The Associated Press)

A massive fire destroyed nearly 500 thatched huts in a New Delhi slum Friday, depriving the already impoverished residents of their homes.

Seven people were hospitalized for burn injuries, fire department official Shyam Lal said.

The blaze reduced nearly half of the shantytown to smoldering piles of thatch and charred debris — plastic bottles, tarps, rubber tires and scraps of wood.

Fanned by a breeze, the fire raged for two hours before dozens of fire engines doused it, a resident told the TimesNow television channel.

The cause of the fire was being investigated, Lal said.

Slum fires are usually sparked by charcoal cooking or electrical short circuits from the many thousands of illegal power connections. Shantytowns in India are mostly built illegally without any safety standards.